Overview

Last Seen: December 1, 1971
Location: South Lake Tahoe, California
Age: 27
Date of Birth: September 23, 1944
Status: Endangered missing; foul play is suspected
South Lake Tahoe Police Case Number: 120171
NamUs Number: MP17917

Roger was last seen in South Lake Tahoe and has never been heard from again. Very little information about the circumstances immediately surrounding his disappearance has been released publicly. The Charley Project states that foul play is suspected, but publicly available law-enforcement records do not identify a confirmed suspect, explain what investigators believe happened to him, or classify his disappearance as a confirmed homicide.

Detailed Case Breakdown

Roger C. Levell Missing Person Case: South Lake Tahoe, California, 1971

Roger C. Levell disappeared from South Lake Tahoe, California, on December 1, 1971. More than five decades later, his disappearance remains unresolved, and he continues to be listed as a missing person by the California Department of Justice and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

Brief Case Summary

Last Seen: December 1, 1971
Location: South Lake Tahoe, California
Age: 27
Date of Birth: September 23, 1944
Status: Endangered missing; foul play is suspected
South Lake Tahoe Police Case Number: 120171
NamUs Number: MP17917

Roger was last seen in South Lake Tahoe and has never been heard from again. Very little information about the circumstances immediately surrounding his disappearance has been released publicly. The Charley Project states that foul play is suspected, but publicly available law-enforcement records do not identify a confirmed suspect, explain what investigators believe happened to him, or classify his disappearance as a confirmed homicide.

The Disappearance of Roger C. Levell

Roger C. Levell was born September 23, 1944. According to the California Department of Justice, he was 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighed approximately 170 pounds. The state record describes him as a white male with black hair and green eyes. The Charley Project lists his hair as brown, illustrating one of several minor discrepancies that have developed among records maintained over the decades.

On December 1, 1971, the 27-year-old was last seen in South Lake Tahoe, a resort community along the California-Nevada border. Beyond that basic fact, remarkably little information about his final known movements has been made public. Available records do not provide a confirmed last address, vehicle, destination, companion, workplace, or detailed description of the circumstances in which he vanished.

Roger was never heard from again.

Distinguishing Features Could Be Important

Roger had several highly distinctive scars and tattoos that could potentially help identify him or unidentified remains.

California’s missing-person record describes scars on the right side of his eyebrow and head and at the left corner of his mouth, as well as acne scarring on his face, neck and shoulders. He also had a vaccination scar on his left arm.

His tattoos included an angel on his right arm, the word “Mom” on his right hand, a devil and wording on his left inner forearm, and “Roger” and “NSR #7999” on his left outer forearm. The wording of one tattoo varies slightly between databases, another reason investigators should rely on the original law-enforcement record when making comparisons. Dental X-rays are listed as available.

Why Foul Play Is Suspected

The Charley Project classifies Roger as endangered missing and states that foul play is suspected. It does not provide a publicly documented explanation for why investigators reached that conclusion.

That distinction is important. There is presently no public evidence in the sources reviewed establishing that Roger was murdered, and no official source reviewed identifies a person responsible for his disappearance.

Online researchers have discussed various theories over the years, including whether Roger might be connected to other crimes committed in California during the era. Those discussions are not the same as findings by investigators. One Websleuths discussion, for example, considered a possible connection to convicted serial killer Randy Kraft, partly because of Roger’s angel tattoo, but the discussion itself acknowledges the theory was speculative. No official source reviewed confirms such a connection.

A Long-Standing Record Discrepancy

One unusual issue in Roger’s case involves his age.

The California Department of Justice lists Roger’s date of birth as September 23, 1944. That would make him 27 years old when he disappeared on December 1, 1971. NamUs likewise lists him as 27 at the time he went missing, and The Charley Project uses the same birth date and age.

The Doe Network’s historical index, however, lists its Roger Levell entry for December 1, 1971 as age 33. Its associated case identifier is 921DMCA. Because multiple government and current case records support the September 1944 birth date, age 27 appears to be the better-supported figure.

NamUs and the Continuing Missing-Person Investigation

Roger is entered in NamUs as MP17917. The NamUs record gives South Lake Tahoe, California, as the location of his disappearance and December 1, 1971 as his date of last contact. The current NamUs page states that the record was created on April 12, 2021.

The California Department of Justice also continues to maintain an active public missing-person listing for Roger. That record identifies the South Lake Tahoe Police Department as the reporting agency and gives law-enforcement case number 120171.

Latest Publicly Available Case Information

As of September 12, 2026, Roger remains publicly listed as missing. I found no official announcement indicating that he has been located, that remains have been identified as his, that an arrest has been made, or that authorities have publicly named a suspect.

The most recent specifically dated update located during this review is from May 27, 2026, when The Charley Project updated Roger’s listing and noted that his distinguishing characteristics had been revised. The page continues to classify him as endangered missing and continues to state that foul play is suspected.

The California Department of Justice listing also remains publicly available, while NamUs continues to maintain case MP17917. Together, those records indicate that Roger’s disappearance remains unresolved in publicly accessible missing-person databases.

What Happened to Roger Levell?

More than half a century after Roger disappeared, the central questions remain unanswered: Where did he go after he was last seen in South Lake Tahoe on December 1, 1971? Did someone harm him? And could evidence preserved in law-enforcement files, dental records, or modern missing-person databases eventually connect him to unidentified remains?

The public record provides frustratingly few details about his final day. What it does preserve is an unusually detailed physical description, dental information and several distinctive tattoos and scars. Those identifiers may still be significant in comparisons with unidentified-person cases.

Anyone with information about Roger C. Levell’s disappearance should contact the South Lake Tahoe Police Department or the California Department of Justice Missing Persons program and reference case 120171 and NamUs MP17917.