On a cold November night in 1992, Dale Hoffman, a truck driver, parked his Peterbilt loaded with machine parts beneath a Texaco sign along Route 287. After purchasing what appeared to be a simple sandwich and coffee, Dale vanished within twenty minutes after returning to his cab. The receipt, however, showed two sandwiches and two coffees—an odd detail that would remain unexplained for decades. Neither wreckage nor a body was ever found, leaving his wife Linda and daughter Emma devastated. Rumors and theories ranged from Dale starting a new life to running away, but after eight months, insurance declared him missing and presumed dead.
Emma grew up believing her father had abandoned the family, carrying bitterness for years—until 2012, when construction crews began draining Garrison Quarry in preparation for development. Thirty feet underwater, they discovered Dale’s Peterbilt truck, intact but waterlogged. Inside, Dale’s body was found strapped to the driver’s seat, remarkably preserved by the oxygen-free environment. His mustache and distinctive chin scar remained visible, shattering the family’s belief that he had left them.
A medical examiner discovered a small-caliber bullet wound at the base of Dale’s skull, suggesting a fatal execution-style murder. What sealed the mystery further was the receipt found in his jacket—two sandwiches and two coffees—proof that someone else was with him the night he died.
When Sheriff Tom Garrett told Emma the news, the shock was overwhelming. For 20 years, she believed her father gone by choice, never understanding he was taken violently. Emma and Linda confirmed the identity at the morgue, mourning milestones lost to a tragic crime.
The investigation soon focused on Dale’s business partner and family friend, Carl Briggs, who had stood by the family after Dale disappeared. On that fateful night, Carl claimed to be home sick, backed by his wife’s alibi. But a second Texaco receipt—purchased with Carl’s credit card and found in the truck—placed him at the scene shortly before Dale vanished.
Dale’s brother uncovered notes in Dale’s handwriting regarding Carl’s debts, gambling issues, and insurance questions. Carl’s financial troubles pointed toward motive, especially considering the life insurance and business sale proceeds he received.
For Emma, betrayal cut deeper than grief—Carl, who comforted her family, may have been the killer. She described her college tuition from the insurance payout as “blood money.” Linda recalled Carl encouraging the insurance claim with lies about Dale’s mental state.
Investigators examined Dale’s truck like a time capsule—covered in algae but holding personal touches, like a childhood bicycle dent and a photo of Emma taped to the dashboard. Yet the truck’s logbook was missing, likely removed deliberately.
Though the quarry had hidden the truth for two decades, the evidence spoke clearly: Carl had opportunity, motive, and was at the scene.
Sheriff Garrett reopened the case as a homicide in 2012, confronting Carl, who denied involvement and claimed coincidences. But two sandwiches and two coffees on a receipt don’t add up to coincidence.
For Emma, justice means restoring her father’s true story—not as a man who left, but as one who loved his family until the very end. The small receipt that survived water and time became a powerful piece of that truth, revealing that Dale was not alone on that cold night.
