Overview

Last known date: July 4, 1975
Reported missing from: Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida
Age: 25
Classification: Missing person
NamUs number: MP28694
Case reference: 046312

Main circumstances: Olsen disappeared after escaping from a Florida prison while serving a 10-year sentence for robbery with a firearm. Available case information identifies Palatka Road Prison as the institution from which he escaped. No verified public record located for this article establishes that Olsen was subsequently found, killed, or confirmed deceased.

Detailed Case Breakdown

Ricky Dale Olsen Missing Person Case: What Happened After His 1975 Florida Prison Escape?

Ricky Dale Olsen was 25 years old when he disappeared in Florida on July 4, 1975. His case has remained unresolved for more than five decades.

Olsen was reportedly serving a 10-year prison sentence for robbery with a firearm when he escaped from Palatka Road Prison. He was subsequently listed as missing, and his whereabouts after the escape remain unknown.

Brief Case Summary

Last known date: July 4, 1975
Reported missing from: Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida
Age: 25
Classification: Missing person
NamUs number: MP28694
Case reference: 046312

Main circumstances: Olsen disappeared after escaping from a Florida prison while serving a 10-year sentence for robbery with a firearm. Available case information identifies Palatka Road Prison as the institution from which he escaped. No verified public record located for this article establishes that Olsen was subsequently found, killed, or confirmed deceased.

Who Was Ricky Dale Olsen?

Ricky Dale Olsen, whose first name has also been listed as “Rickey,” was approximately 25 years old in 1975 and was born around 1950.

He was described as a white male with brown hair and blue eyes, standing approximately 5 feet 11 inches to 6 feet tall and weighing between 150 and 160 pounds. Identifying characteristics included scars on his upper lip and chest.

The July 4, 1975 Disappearance

Olsen’s disappearance is unusual because he was not reported missing under ordinary circumstances. According to case information preserved through NamUs-related records, Olsen escaped from prison while serving a 10-year sentence for robbery with a firearm.

His date of last contact is listed as July 4, 1975, and his missing location is recorded as Tallahassee, Florida. The available case material identifies the institution as Palatka Road Prison.

Exactly how the escape occurred, where Olsen went immediately afterward, whether anyone assisted him, and whether authorities developed confirmed sightings have not been detailed in the publicly accessible material located for this review.

Palatka Road Prison and Questions About the Location

The surviving public case information creates an unresolved geographic question. Olsen is recorded as missing from Tallahassee, while Palatka Road Prison is identified as the facility connected to his escape.

Members of the Websleuths community have questioned whether he could have escaped during transportation or whether some historical location information has been simplified or entered differently in later databases. Those discussions are community speculation, not confirmed findings from investigators.

Because records from a 1975 corrections case may have changed format or terminology during later digitization, the distinction between his recorded missing location and the institution associated with the escape remains an important point for further historical research.

Physical Description

At the time of his disappearance, Olsen was described as approximately 5 feet 11 inches to 6 feet tall and 150 to 160 pounds. He had brown hair and blue eyes.

Records also note scars on his upper lip and chest. No reliable public description of the clothing he was wearing when he disappeared was located.

Those physical details remain potentially important when comparing Olsen with unidentified-person cases from Florida and neighboring states dating from the mid-1970s onward.

Could Ricky Dale Olsen Be an Unidentified Person?

People researching Olsen’s disappearance have compared him with unidentified-person cases. A December 2023 Websleuths discussion mentioned a possible resemblance to an unidentified individual, and an August 2024 post discussed similarities involving physical appearance and footwear.

There is no publicly verified information located for this article showing that such a comparison resulted in an identification or that investigators officially connected Olsen to the unidentified person discussed online.

These comparisons should therefore be treated as research leads or public speculation rather than evidence that Olsen died or has been located.

Latest Publicly Available Investigation Information

As of September 13, 2026, publicly searchable information still identifies Ricky Dale Olsen as missing. A recently indexed missing-person listing continues to show him as last seen in Tallahassee on July 4, 1975, under NamUs number MP28694.

No verified public announcement was located indicating that Olsen has been found alive, that remains have been identified as his, or that his case has been resolved.

The most recent substantive public discussion located specifically about his case was an August 4, 2024 Websleuths post examining a possible unidentified-person comparison. That post represented independent discussion rather than an announcement from law enforcement.

Florida Department of Corrections remains the law-enforcement/corrections agency identified in public case information. The number historically associated with Olsen’s case, (850) 922-6867, is still listed by the department as its Emergency Action Center contact.

Why the Case Remains Difficult

More than 50 years have passed since Olsen disappeared. The public record contains few details about the actual escape, including his method of escape, immediate direction of travel, possible transportation, associates, or confirmed sightings afterward.

Because Olsen intentionally left custody, investigators at the time would have initially treated the matter as an escape and fugitive investigation rather than a typical unexplained disappearance. That distinction may help explain why publicly available missing-person information is considerably more limited than in many other long-term cases.

Today, databases of missing and unidentified persons make it possible to compare cases across jurisdictions in ways that were not practical in 1975. However, a visual resemblance or similar physical description alone cannot establish identity.

Ricky Dale Olsen’s Case Today

Ricky Dale Olsen remains associated with one of Florida’s oldest publicly documented unresolved missing-person cases. He was 25 when he vanished following his July 4, 1975 prison escape, and no confirmed account of what happened afterward has emerged publicly.

Anyone with reliable information concerning Olsen’s whereabouts after his escape, his identity under another name, or circumstances that could help determine what happened to him should provide that information directly to the appropriate authorities rather than attempting to locate or confront anyone independently.