Overview

Date: July 25, 1975
Location: Huntington Beach, Orange County, California
Age: 31
Classification: Missing Person
NamUs Number: MP18056
Huntington Beach Police Case: 04-019192

Plechner was last seen in Huntington Beach on July 25, 1975. There is no publicly documented account explaining exactly where in Huntington Beach he was last seen, who last saw him, what he was wearing, what transportation he may have been using, or what he intended to do afterward.

He was never heard from again.
Last Seen: Huntington Beach, Orange County, California. Richard Frank Plechner, 31, disappeared while facing federal controlled-substance conspiracy charges. He had attended court July 10 and was scheduled to return August 18 but never appeared. More than a year later, his bail surety contended in court that he was dead, although the published court decision did not establish his death or explain what evidence supported that assertion. His missing-person case remains publicly listed.

Detailed Case Breakdown

Richard Frank Plechner: The 1975 Huntington Beach Missing Person Case

Richard Frank Plechner was 31 years old when he disappeared from Huntington Beach, California, on July 25, 1975. More than five decades later, his whereabouts remain unknown, and his case continues to be listed as a missing-person case.

Plechner was born October 28, 1943. He was a white male, approximately 6 feet 1 inch tall and 240 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes. Public missing-person records provide remarkably few details about what happened on the day he vanished.

Last Seen

Date: July 25, 1975
Location: Huntington Beach, Orange County, California
Age: 31
Classification: Missing Person
NamUs Number: MP18056
Huntington Beach Police Case: 04-019192

Plechner was last seen in Huntington Beach on July 25, 1975. There is no publicly documented account explaining exactly where in Huntington Beach he was last seen, who last saw him, what he was wearing, what transportation he may have been using, or what he intended to do afterward.

He was never heard from again.

The Circumstances Surrounding Richard Plechner’s Disappearance

Although modern missing-person summaries contain little information about Plechner’s final known movements, federal court records reveal significant circumstances immediately preceding his disappearance.

Plechner and nine other defendants had been charged with federal offenses involving conspiracy to import controlled substances and conspiracy to possess controlled substances with intent to distribute. His bond was set at $10,000, and an appearance bond was filed to secure his release from custody.

On June 24, 1975, Plechner appeared before U.S. Magistrate Edward A. Infante and was ordered to return for an omnibus hearing on July 10. Plechner appeared as required on July 10, when the matter was continued until August 18, 1975.

Then, according to missing-person records, Plechner disappeared on July 25 — just 15 days after his last documented court appearance and 24 days before his next scheduled appearance.

Richard Plechner Failed to Appear in Federal Court

When August 18, 1975 arrived, Plechner did not appear in court.

U.S. Magistrate Harry R. McCue declared his bail forfeited. On October 7, 1975, the federal government filed a motion for a default judgment because Plechner had failed to comply with the conditions of his bond.

The timing creates one of the central unanswered questions surrounding the case: was Plechner’s disappearance connected in some way to the criminal case against him, or were the two events unrelated?

Publicly available records do not provide an answer.

The Surety Later Claimed Plechner Was Dead

One of the most unusual developments came more than a year after Plechner disappeared.

On December 29, 1976, Surety Insurance Company of California opposed the government’s effort to collect on the forfeited bond. According to the subsequent Ninth Circuit opinion, the company contended that Plechner was dead.

That statement is significant, but it should not be treated as proof of Plechner’s death.

The publicly available appellate decision does not establish that Plechner’s body had been recovered, that authorities had confirmed his death, or that a homicide had occurred. The court proceeding concerned the forfeited bond rather than an investigation into what happened to Plechner.

The unanswered question is therefore potentially important: what information caused the surety to contend that Richard Plechner was dead?

The Federal Court Case Continued Without Him

On February 22, 1977, the federal district court granted a default in the amount of $7,500 against the surety, after $2,500 of the original $10,000 bond was remitted. Judgment was entered on March 9, 1977.

The dispute eventually reached the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

On June 28, 1978, the appellate court affirmed the bond-forfeiture judgment. The published decision, United States v. Plechner, 577 F.2d 596, preserved a valuable timeline of Plechner’s court appearances and his subsequent failure to appear.

It also preserved the otherwise unusual historical detail that the surety had contended Plechner was dead.

Was Richard Plechner the Victim of a Crime?

There is currently no publicly available evidence establishing that Plechner was murdered.

His disappearance occurred while he was facing serious federal criminal charges, making voluntary disappearance one possibility that investigators would naturally have had to consider. Conversely, the later assertion that he was dead raises questions that cannot be resolved from the publicly available court record.

Neither circumstance proves what happened.

There is also no publicly documented evidence establishing that Plechner died by suicide, was killed because of the federal drug case, fled to avoid prosecution, assumed another identity, suffered an accidental death, or became the victim of an unrelated crime.

Until evidence establishes otherwise, those possibilities remain theories rather than facts.

Physical Description and Identifying Information

Plechner was 31 at the time of his disappearance. He stood approximately 6 feet 1 inch tall and weighed about 240 pounds. He had brown hair and hazel eyes.

Public case information indicates that DNA is available for comparison purposes. This could be particularly important in a case dating to 1975 because unidentified-person cases discovered elsewhere may potentially be compared against missing-person records as forensic technology and databases continue to develop.

Few other identifying details have been made publicly available. No distinctive scars, tattoos, clothing description, jewelry, or other personal items are identified in the major public summaries reviewed for this case.

Latest Publicly Available Case Information

As of September 2026, Richard Frank Plechner continues to appear in the California Department of Justice missing-person database. The state lists the Huntington Beach Police Department as the investigating agency, gives the police contact number as 714-536-5641, and identifies the police case as 04-019192.

His disappearance also remains documented by The Charley Project and other missing-person databases. NamUs case information cited by multiple case resources identifies him as MP18056.

There has been no publicly announced resolution located in the sources reviewed for this article. No official source reviewed reports that Plechner has been found alive, that his remains have been identified, or that authorities have determined what happened to him.

Public discussion of the case has nevertheless continued. A Websleuths thread created in 2022 explored Plechner’s disappearance and brought attention to the federal court case. The thread was updated again on July 29, 2025, shortly after the 50th anniversary of his disappearance.

Importantly, online theories and possible comparisons discussed by members of the public should not be confused with official investigative findings unless confirmed by law enforcement.

Main Points of the Richard Plechner Case

Richard disappeared while facing federal charges. He was charged along with nine others with federal controlled-substance conspiracy offenses.

He attended court shortly before disappearing. Plechner appeared in federal court on July 10, 1975.

He disappeared July 25, 1975. His officially reported last-known location was Huntington Beach, California.

He had another court date scheduled. His next appearance was set for August 18, 1975.

He did not appear. His failure to attend the August hearing resulted in forfeiture of his bail.

The surety later contended he was dead. In December 1976, the company that had provided his appearance bond opposed the government’s default motion and asserted that Plechner was dead.

His death has not been publicly established. The federal appellate decision documents the surety’s contention but does not establish that Plechner was deceased or explain the evidence behind the assertion.

The missing-person case remains unresolved in publicly available records. California continues to list Richard Frank Plechner as a missing person.

Anyone with information concerning Richard Frank Plechner’s disappearance should contact the Huntington Beach Police Department and reference case 04-019192 and NamUs MP18056.