OAK HILL, WV (LOOTPRESS) – Between 1962 and 1964, a wave of disappearances and grisly murders gripped southern West Virginia, leaving residents terrified and authorities searching for answers. Seven men vanished. Two were found dismembered. The press called the unknown killer “The Mad Butcher of West Virginia.”
It began in December 1962, when 19-year-old Mike Rogers of Oak Hill left home to buy cigarettes and never returned. Eight days later, a child playing on Gauley Mountain stumbled upon a gruesome scene: Rogers’ body scattered across the mountainside, cut into 13 pieces.
His head was sealed in a plastic bag. His torso was stuffed inside a military duffel bag along with several organs. Police later determined he had been shot in the back of the head before being mutilated — and that some of his organs showed what investigators described as “chew marks.”
Detectives traced the duffel bag to a former Greyhound bus employee. Inside the suspect’s vehicle, they discovered a bloody axe, knife, and hacksaw. He claimed the tools were for butchering animals. Before charges could be filed, the man reportedly turned himself in, telling authorities he “did not want to hurt anyone” — then took his own life while in custody.
The following year, horror struck again. In 1963, the torso of Shirley Arthur was found in rural Wyoming County, wrapped in canvas and bound with wire. His head, arms, and legs were missing. His heart had been stabbed 19 times with an ice pick.
Over the next two years, more men vanished under equally disturbing circumstances.
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Bob Agee disappeared in February 1962. He was never found.
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Ernest Gwinn vanished in July 1962 after cashing his pension check. Eleven months later, his skull — with a bullet hole — was discovered near Oak Hill.
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Lou Bennett told friends in 1963 that he planned to “disappear.” Two years later, his skull was found near railroad tracks. Investigators suspected suicide by dynamite.
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Samuel Smith disappeared in October 1964 after visiting a drive-in restaurant on the outskirts of Oak Hill. He was never seen again.
While only two victims showed signs of mutilation, the string of disappearances fueled panic across the region. Rumors spread that a single deranged killer was preying on men in southern West Virginia.
On August 20, 1964, The Cumberland Evening Times ran a chilling headline: “Mad Butcher Stalks Oak Hill, West Virginia Streets.”
“Fear stalks the streets of this southern West Virginia community,” the article warned. “The townspeople are sure a murderer, a ‘mad butcher,’ walks among them.”
More than 60 years later, the case remains unsolved. Whether the “Mad Butcher” was a lone killer, a string of unrelated crimes, or a mix of both remains one of West Virginia’s most haunting mysteries.
Anyone with information about these cold cases is urged to contact the Raleigh County Sheriff’s Department at 304-255-9300 or the West Virginia State Police.
