The Disappearance of Caleb Diehl
18 year old Caleb Diehl was last seen in Nocona, Texas on March 30, 2015. He was last seen borrowing a pickup truck from his employer.
Background
In 2015 Caleb was living with his sister in Grapevine, Texas. He was visiting his mother in Nocona, Texas when he went missing.
He was a senior in high school and had plans to move to California after graduation. Caleb disappeared just two weeks after his 18th birthday.
Disappearance
On March 30, 2015, Caleb Diehl was visiting his mother in Nocona, Texas. Since Caleb’s vehicle was in the repair shop, he went to borrow a pickup truck from his employer, Ricky Dale Howard, so he could go to another job.
Howard was a businessman who hired Caleb for odd jobs and was a close friend of the family.
Caleb never returned to his mother’s house, and hasn’t been seen since.
Investigation
The truck Caleb was last seen driving was found at Howard’s residence two days later, with the keys inside.
The last ping on Caleb’s phone was on Howard’s property. Howard told police he had found a broken phone on the floor of his shop and thrown it away.
Before authorities could search Howard’s phone, he removed the SIM card and cut it into pieces.
Police searched all three of Howard’s properties. On one of them officers found a burn pit with three computer towers inside, which Howard said belonged to his deceased parents.
Investigators have multiple call logs between Caleb and Howard on the day of and days leading up to Caleb’s disappearance. The last call between the two took place at a repair shop that Howard owned, right before Caleb’s phone goes dead.
On April 11, 2015, firearms were found on Howard’s property, leading to his arrest. As a convicted felon who had served 46 months in federal prison for bank fraud, he is prohibited from possessing firearms.
While awaiting trial on the firearms charges, investigators jailed Howard on two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child stemming from 500 alleged incidents between 1996-2000.
The victim in that case began working for Howard when he was 12 years old, and the incidents reportedly occurred at several properties.
About a year and a half after Caleb disappeared, his mother found a small handheld tape recorder hidden in the back of a bathroom cabinet. The tape recorder contained audio of Mr. Howard asking himself polygraph questions pertaining to his sexual interest in young boys.
In 2017, investigators re-examined the computers recovered from a burn pit on Howard’s property and found child pornography involving Caleb.
In April 2018, a grand jury indicted Howard on two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, two counts of indecency with a child, and 34 counts of possession of child pornography.
In February 2021, Howard was charged in federal court with exploitation of a minor, the minor being Caleb Diehl. In October 2021 he was given the maximum term of 30 years in prison.
“My family is broken, I know we will never have a gathering where there isn’t a sense of wrongness and of a huge, important part being missing,” Ms. Diehl testified at Mr. Howard’s sentencing hearing. “It has now been almost seven years since [my son] disappeared. Years of searching, waiting, and praying for answers to get to this day – and still to not truly have the answer our hearts require. But I am so thankful to the investigators and prosecutors for not giving up and at least making sure that Ricky Howard can hurt no one else.”
No charges regarding Caleb’s disappearance have ever been filed. Caleb is presumed deceased, though his remains have never been found.
Appearance
White male with blonde hair and blue eyes. At the time of his disappearance Caleb stood 5’11-6’2 tall and weighed approximately 145 pounds.
Investigating Agency
If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Caleb Diehl please contact the Montague County Sheriff’s Office at (940) 894-2871, or the Nocona Police Department at (940) 825-3281.
