What happened to Charles B. Hiller?

About 92 years ago, Charles B. Hiller disappeared in Flomaton where he worked in the restaurant and was the newsstand manager at the L&N train depot. He also worked for the Crescent News and Hotel Company.

His grandson, Paul Green from San Antonio, Texas, was in Flomaton a few weeks ago seeking clues to what may have happened to his grandfather, who has not been seen since he disappeared.

"At the time, all the newspapers in the area said foul play was involved and searches for his body turned up nothing," Green said. "His wife, my grandmother, refused to talk about this and went to her grave telling us his disappearance was too painful to recount."

"My mother, now 94, has wondered her whole life about this mystery," Green said. "She was 17-months old at the time of his disappearance. I've set about trying to find any information I can about my grandfather while my mom is still alive."

He said his grandmother relocated to Akron, Ohio, after her husband's disappearance and no one from our family ever revisited Flomaton, until now.

Green and his wife traveled to Flomaton about two weeks ago but only had time to spend a day.

"Truthfully, we don't know what we'll find but felt the urge to be in the place my long-lost grandfather was last seen," Green said. "I know your newspaper is not that old but I thought I'd share his story."

Green said while in Flomaton he checked with the police department but was told all old records were lost in the 1970s.

"People said it was murder because there was no reason to leave his family," Green said.

He said after his grandfather disappeared, people began checking box cars up and down the line, but nothing was found.

He said when his mother was in her 80s she asked for a death certificate, but none existed.

"The story handed down the family is that he had befriended some workers at the depot," Green said. "My grandmother always believed he met foul play."

After his body didn't show up, his grandmother moved to Ohio.

He said while she was alive, his grandmother never liked to talk about her missing husband, but the day after she died the family began asking questions.

"We found no information before or after they got married," Green said.

He found copies of an old Mobile newspaper with the headline 'Find No Trace of Flomtonian Among Missing' with a subhead reading 'Charles D. Hiller Disappears From Sight Without Leaving Any Clue'.

The lead of that story reads ' No trace had been found last night of Charles D. Hiller, news agent for the Crescent News and Hotel Company at Flomaton, who dropped from sight yesterday, according to information reaching this city.'

'A search of freight cars arriving from that place failed to disclose the body, which, a report said, had been cut to pieces and placed in the car', the story continued. 'No reason could be assigned for Hiller's disappearance. His home life was happy, his accounts were in order and he did not drink according to Chief of Police Barrow, at Flomaton. Mrs. Hiller believes her husband met with foul play. He left his overcoat, keys, etc., in the station cafe and stepped into a small park. That was the last seen of him. Mobile police had been notified to look out for the body and searched freight cars arriving from Flomaton without success'.

Another old newspaper clipping from Mobile had the headline 'Police, Kin Begin Hunt for Hiller' with subheads reading 'Murder and Robbery Is Theory Held by Flomaton Authorities' – 'Body Believed Placed in Car'.

Parts of the old newspaper clipping are missing, but parts from the Associated Press that are legible read 'Hiller, manager of the Crescent News and Hotel Company at the Louisville and Nashville depot at Flomaton is believed to have been murdered and robbed, and his body thrown into an empty boxcar, according to a message received here today at noon by Chief of Police Warren Burch.'

Green said his grandfather told everybody he was from Copenhagen and probably came to the United States after World War II and didn't want anybody to know he was German, but added there is no proof to back that up.

"Everything says he was from Denmark," Green said.

"All we think we know is he was manager of a restaurant and news stand at the depot, got a cup of coffee, went outside and disappeared," Green said.

Green said he really got interested about his grandfather in the 1980s and 1990s and went to Copenhagen in 2000 but said the most he could find was that his grandfather was mostly German.

He said he's still looking for clues and hopefully can find some before his 94-year old mother dies.

His grandfather went missing in 1927 and he has copies of orders he made on Dec. 30, 1926 for the Crescent News and Hotel Company, signed by Hiller.

Green asks that anybody who has any old news clippings or other information that may shed light on what happened to his grandfather to please email him at [email protected].