I think it may still be possible to solve this.They need to re publicize this.People who were around back then and are still alive today may want to tell if they know anything about it before they die. A lot of people don’t want to go to heaven with this on their record, and have their God judge them.I know that sounds far fetched, but people always try to clean out their baggage before dying.But this probably should have been done 10 yrs.ago.I am from Hamilton and went to Miami also.I have never heard about this.If I had I would remember,because I am a true crime buff.My mother and father who both attended Miami Oxford, and lived their lives in Hamilton do not remember this.They should have definitely publicized this more.BTW,I enjoyed this blog or site.Right to the point without seeming limited.lol
Christine,
Sorry for the late response here. I agree it’s strange that you nor your parents would have heard about Ron Tammen … It’s also strange that one of my sources told me he didn’t hear much more after he first disappeared that April (and he lived down the hall from Tammen). Let me know if you have any other insights or comments. I’m happy to chat!
Thanks for reading and commenting. Your interest is helping to solve the mystery in some way!
I think that this could have very possibly been a fraternity prank gone wrong. They said that Tammen went down to grab some fresh sheets due to finding a fish in his own. I think that it’s very plausible that after changing his sheets, he decided to go to the fraternity and tell the boys about how it was a good prank. They could have then, as a whole, decided to haze him. Something could have gone very wrong, and in return he died. The campus could have very easily covered this up.
I have no idea where he is or even if he still alive. But, it seems as if someone thinks they seen him after 26 years of him being gone. Which they seen him at a hotel resturant. He was with 3 different guys , and everytime the man who claims to had seem him looked over at him he would catch the guy who looked like Ron would be starring right back at him. Also he wanted to know his blood type, to me all of it is very weird.
Since he had a psychology book opened, I believe he got to the topic of Existential Psychology, and started questioning his existence and simply ceased to exist.
I think that he just walked off campus to start a new life elsewhere for some reason. I feel this because he left all his personal things behind that would identify him and because people believe to have seen him after his disappearance.
I am a History Teacher at Talawanda High School, Oxford Ohio. My students and I found your website after reading a recent article on the Ronald Tammen mystery in the Miami Student. (Cold Case: Miami alumna resurrects mystery man; http://miamistudent.net/?p=15003505) I too have fond memories of Dr. Shriver’s lectures and share them with my own students around Halloween. We discuss the differences between ‘history’ and ‘lore’ and what continues to make the Tammen case newsworthy after all these years.
This year I asked my classes to form their own hypothesis after watching this documentary from the 1970’s (The Phantom of Oxford: http://youtu.be/z6MmvO6yxcY). Their answers range from the fantastic (alien abduction) to the mundane (ran away.)
My own hypothesis comes back to Ron getting clean sheets at approximately 8:00 on the night he disappeared because someone ‘put a fish in his bed.’ Hazing was and is still a common practice among the Greek Community on campus. It was a known fact that Ron Tammen was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity; his roommate has testified he was not alarmed by his absence initially because he thought Ron might have spent the night at the Frat.
Whoever put the fish in his bed had access to Ron’s room. There was a fire escape leading up to the outside window. For the sake of argument lets say some of Ron’s brothers abducted him for some secret hazing ritual that went horribly wrong. (Dying to Belong: The Dangers of Hazing; http://www.educationnews.org/higher-education/dangers-of-hazing/) Cases like this are common place despite restrictions of hazing on College Campuses, and still tragically happen every year.
This might also explain the delays and shortcomings of the initial investigation. Perhaps an advisor or someone in the administration wanted the story ‘covered up’ to avoid negative press about the University. Perhaps the brothers of Delta Tau Delta have kept this a secret all these years? Has anyone ever interviewed them? Are any of them still alive?
The ‘Drop Off” is a common hazing practice where members blindfolded new members and dropped them off several miles from campus and told them to find their way back.
This might explain why anything that could have identified Ron was left in his room (wallet, keys, class ring) and the story of the mysterious encounter with a young man matching his description in the town of ‘Seven Mile,’ not far from Miami, on the night he disappeared.
One of Tammen’s Delt fraternity brothers was none other than Richard T Farmer; one of the largest donor’s to the University and the namesake of the Business school.
Hello all
It’s hard to believe after all these years we still have answer as to what really happened all those years ago.
But even after all the decades that have passed more information cotinues to come to light . My father Rons roommate at the time of his dissapesrence wants an answer . David
D Findlay: you are saying that your father was Ron’s roommate when he disappeared? What has he said about the week surrounding Ron going missing? Did he know why Ron went to a coroner to have blood drawn? Any help you could give us researchers would be great.
I believe that Ronald is alive in spirit and buried on campus in one of the secret rooms at Miami University. I found out from a relative that there is secret rooms within the walls of the campus. I was also told that Ronald was murdered, he was held and murdered the next day on campus. I was also told that the police knew. My relative said there was some people who also went missing that year, but not all from Ohio, some were from other states. The people who saw Ronald in New York was that he was in the SPIRIT WORLD. I really think that also this may be a hexed that was done on Ronald and his memory was altered and that’s why people saw or thought saw Ronald in New York. If you look at the history of Miami U. The years before Ronald went missing and the presidents were living there before it was Fisher Hall and the psy hospital and I believe that Ronald Henry Tammen Jr., was murdered like I said above and is buried on campus in those secret room.
I believe that Ron is dead. I believe this because it is very hard to just fall of the earth in the way of technology and you would think if he ran away their would be more sittings of him and or he would eventually give up and head back to his family. I believe that Ron was targeted for some reason maybe he was involved in some activities no one else may of known about and once he left his room he was killed or taken away for some reason. This is why I believe he is dead and his body was buried someone still very near if not on campus.
I believe that Ron left on purpose. Since they did not have very good technology back then he very well could have decided to move, change his name, and never speak to anyone he knew again.
I believe Ron is dead. I believe Ron was being hazed for part of being in a fraternity and the prank went to far. He ended up being killed. The students of the fraternity didn’t want to get punished or go to jail so they hid the body and made this story to cover it up.
He might be dead, but it is still worth it to search for him. How could a student just disappear? The fact that a student just went missing upsets me. This case shouldn’t be taken lightly; is great that this website exists.
Trail to the Truth 
I think it may still be possible to solve this.They need to re publicize this.People who were around back then and are still alive today may want to tell if they know anything about it before they die. A lot of people don’t want to go to heaven with this on their record, and have their God judge them.I know that sounds far fetched, but people always try to clean out their baggage before dying.But this probably should have been done 10 yrs.ago.I am from Hamilton and went to Miami also.I have never heard about this.If I had I would remember,because I am a true crime buff.My mother and father who both attended Miami Oxford, and lived their lives in Hamilton do not remember this.They should have definitely publicized this more.BTW,I enjoyed this blog or site.Right to the point without seeming limited.lol
Christine,
Sorry for the late response here. I agree it’s strange that you nor your parents would have heard about Ron Tammen … It’s also strange that one of my sources told me he didn’t hear much more after he first disappeared that April (and he lived down the hall from Tammen). Let me know if you have any other insights or comments. I’m happy to chat!
Thanks for reading and commenting. Your interest is helping to solve the mystery in some way!
I think Ron went and got a new identity and went to go live somewhere else and dropped all of his ties and reputations.
I think he was killed and the person that killed him got away with it
I think that this could have very possibly been a fraternity prank gone wrong. They said that Tammen went down to grab some fresh sheets due to finding a fish in his own. I think that it’s very plausible that after changing his sheets, he decided to go to the fraternity and tell the boys about how it was a good prank. They could have then, as a whole, decided to haze him. Something could have gone very wrong, and in return he died. The campus could have very easily covered this up.
I have no idea where he is or even if he still alive. But, it seems as if someone thinks they seen him after 26 years of him being gone. Which they seen him at a hotel resturant. He was with 3 different guys , and everytime the man who claims to had seem him looked over at him he would catch the guy who looked like Ron would be starring right back at him. Also he wanted to know his blood type, to me all of it is very weird.
Since he had a psychology book opened, I believe he got to the topic of Existential Psychology, and started questioning his existence and simply ceased to exist.
I think that he was murdered and he was hidden in that pond and the rotc did not find him that day.
I think that he just walked off campus to start a new life elsewhere for some reason. I feel this because he left all his personal things behind that would identify him and because people believe to have seen him after his disappearance.
I think he just wanted a new life
I am a History Teacher at Talawanda High School, Oxford Ohio. My students and I found your website after reading a recent article on the Ronald Tammen mystery in the Miami Student. (Cold Case: Miami alumna resurrects mystery man; http://miamistudent.net/?p=15003505) I too have fond memories of Dr. Shriver’s lectures and share them with my own students around Halloween. We discuss the differences between ‘history’ and ‘lore’ and what continues to make the Tammen case newsworthy after all these years.
This year I asked my classes to form their own hypothesis after watching this documentary from the 1970’s (The Phantom of Oxford: http://youtu.be/z6MmvO6yxcY). Their answers range from the fantastic (alien abduction) to the mundane (ran away.)
My own hypothesis comes back to Ron getting clean sheets at approximately 8:00 on the night he disappeared because someone ‘put a fish in his bed.’ Hazing was and is still a common practice among the Greek Community on campus. It was a known fact that Ron Tammen was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity; his roommate has testified he was not alarmed by his absence initially because he thought Ron might have spent the night at the Frat.
Whoever put the fish in his bed had access to Ron’s room. There was a fire escape leading up to the outside window. For the sake of argument lets say some of Ron’s brothers abducted him for some secret hazing ritual that went horribly wrong. (Dying to Belong: The Dangers of Hazing; http://www.educationnews.org/higher-education/dangers-of-hazing/) Cases like this are common place despite restrictions of hazing on College Campuses, and still tragically happen every year.
This might also explain the delays and shortcomings of the initial investigation. Perhaps an advisor or someone in the administration wanted the story ‘covered up’ to avoid negative press about the University. Perhaps the brothers of Delta Tau Delta have kept this a secret all these years? Has anyone ever interviewed them? Are any of them still alive?
The ‘Drop Off” is a common hazing practice where members blindfolded new members and dropped them off several miles from campus and told them to find their way back.
This might explain why anything that could have identified Ron was left in his room (wallet, keys, class ring) and the story of the mysterious encounter with a young man matching his description in the town of ‘Seven Mile,’ not far from Miami, on the night he disappeared.
One of Tammen’s Delt fraternity brothers was none other than Richard T Farmer; one of the largest donor’s to the University and the namesake of the Business school.
Hello all
It’s hard to believe after all these years we still have answer as to what really happened all those years ago.
But even after all the decades that have passed more information cotinues to come to light . My father Rons roommate at the time of his dissapesrence wants an answer . David
D Findlay: you are saying that your father was Ron’s roommate when he disappeared? What has he said about the week surrounding Ron going missing? Did he know why Ron went to a coroner to have blood drawn? Any help you could give us researchers would be great.
I believe your father knows something that he doesn’t want repeated.
I believe that Ronald is alive in spirit and buried on campus in one of the secret rooms at Miami University. I found out from a relative that there is secret rooms within the walls of the campus. I was also told that Ronald was murdered, he was held and murdered the next day on campus. I was also told that the police knew. My relative said there was some people who also went missing that year, but not all from Ohio, some were from other states. The people who saw Ronald in New York was that he was in the SPIRIT WORLD. I really think that also this may be a hexed that was done on Ronald and his memory was altered and that’s why people saw or thought saw Ronald in New York. If you look at the history of Miami U. The years before Ronald went missing and the presidents were living there before it was Fisher Hall and the psy hospital and I believe that Ronald Henry Tammen Jr., was murdered like I said above and is buried on campus in those secret room.
i think he is because it is a posibility.
its weird to think that he could have disipeerd without telling anyone.
I believe that Ron is dead. I believe this because it is very hard to just fall of the earth in the way of technology and you would think if he ran away their would be more sittings of him and or he would eventually give up and head back to his family. I believe that Ron was targeted for some reason maybe he was involved in some activities no one else may of known about and once he left his room he was killed or taken away for some reason. This is why I believe he is dead and his body was buried someone still very near if not on campus.
I believe that Ron left on purpose. Since they did not have very good technology back then he very well could have decided to move, change his name, and never speak to anyone he knew again.
I believe Ron is dead. I believe Ron was being hazed for part of being in a fraternity and the prank went to far. He ended up being killed. The students of the fraternity didn’t want to get punished or go to jail so they hid the body and made this story to cover it up.
He might be dead, but it is still worth it to search for him. How could a student just disappear? The fact that a student just went missing upsets me. This case shouldn’t be taken lightly; is great that this website exists.
I mean he’s obviously like, what, at least 80 something. In all seriousness, he could still be lurking somewhere. You never know.