Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
Dorothy rarely mentioned her missing ex, and questions surrounding their father’s suspicious disappearance consumed the Carroll siblings for decades.
"It didn't just come up overnight, it's something that's been talked about for years," Michael, who bought the home from his mother, told ABC7 in 2018. "This is something as we grew up, we heard multiple stories.”
A Conversation with a Clairvoyant
Their fervent desire for answers compelled Michael, who eventually bought the family home, and his sister Jean to conduct their own investigation. They spoke to neighbors and visited several psychics throughout the years, but it wasn’t until they met local medium Angela Heil in 2010 that they found the answers they had been searching for.
Heil tells A&E Crime + Investigation that she relayed to Michael and Jean that their father never left them. In fact, he was there in the family’s Long Island home with them, all along.
“I channeled the father [George] who came in with his head bashed-in,” Heil says of her meeting with the Carroll siblings. “He told me Richard killed him and buried him in the basement. So, I asked them who was Richard, and they started screaming. They said it was their stepfather who wasn't that nice."
What Lies Beneath
Darress died in 2018, the same year Michael’s adult sons, Mike Jr. and Chris, tore up the basement floor of their family home after radar technology showed them where to dig.
The grueling excavation project reached an apex the night before Halloween, when about 6 feet below the property, the brothers discovered what they believed to be human remains.
The Carrolls notified authorities, and in December 2018, Suffolk County officials confirmed the remains belonged to George, offering the family another break in the decades-old case, and seemingly confirming Heil’s supernatural intuition.
George's cause of death remains unclear and continues to be investigated as a homicide.
Michael has his own suspicions over who might have murdered his dad, but he did not elaborate when speaking with ABC7. He said he believes that anyone involved is likely already dead.
Heil says she feels certain she who the killer is.
“George told me that it was Richard that killed him, and he told me that the weapon was going to be next to him, but I all I could see was silver,” Heil claims of her 2010 psychic experience. “I believe it was a silver wrench that was found next to his body.”
A Long-Awaited Goodbye
The Carrolls knew their dad was a Korean War vet, and in October 2019, he was laid to rest in a military ceremony at Calverton National Cemetery on Long Island.
“I always dreamed about knowing where my father was,” Jean said at the 2019 service, according to Newsday. “I am absolutely elated.”
The opportunity to offer the Carrolls an integral piece of information as to their missing father’s whereabouts was all about fate, timing and George’s desire to soothe his kids, Heil tells A&E.
“I think George wanted someone to find him, to put him to rest,” she surmises. “I think that’s why he came through. He just wanted to give them some kind of peace and solace, since they did not have it while Richard was alive.”
Suffolk County police did not immediately respond to A&E Crime + Investigation’s request for comment.
