Smith filed a request from the FBI for all records pertaining to the Tammen case. According to the files, the FBI entered the Tammen case in 1953 citing the selective service act (the draft). Once Tammen reached fugitive status in 1973, the FBI allegedly dropped out of the case.
In Tammen’s file at the Cold Case Unit, there is a letter to Ronald H. Tammen, Ron’s father, from John Edgar Hoover, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) dated October 1970.
The letter reads: “Dear Mr. Tammen, Reference is made to the missing person notice maintained in the files of our identification division in your behalf regarding Ronald Henry Tammen Jr. whom you reported missing in June 1953.
At this time we are checking our files and will appreciate your letting us know whether the location of the above person is still desired by you. If so, the notice will, of course, be continued in file. All that will be necessary will be for you to check one of the items at the bottom of this letter and return it to us. Unless a reply is received from you within 90 days from this date, the notice will be cancelled.
Your courtesy in this matter will be greatly appreciated.
Very truly yours,
John Edgar Hoover”
Below Hoover’s signature were two boxes; one that said ‘has been located, or location is no longer desired, and the other, where the box was checked, ‘is still missing.’
Smith obtained all FBI files relating to the Tammen case, which has led to further theories and investigations, but no answers.
“If the (FBI or CIA) do know anything, they’re not releasing it,” Smith said.
Trail to the Truth 