Heather Danyelle Teague

Case background and investigation

Heather Danyelle Teague was a 23-year-old woman from Henderson County, Kentucky. On the afternoon of August 26, 1995, she went to sunbathe at Newburgh Beach, a stretch of sand along the Ohio River near Spottsville, on the Kentucky side of the river opposite Newburgh, Indiana. What made her disappearance so unusual is that it was witnessed: a man watching the beach through a telescope from across the river in Indiana saw the abduction unfold around 12:45 p.m.

According to the witness, a shirtless Caucasian man approached Heather, grabbed her by the hair, and dragged her at gunpoint off her lawn chair and into the wooded area behind the beach. The witness described the assailant as roughly six feet tall and heavyset, with brown hair and a bushy beard. When authorities searched the beach later that day, they found part of Heather's red plaid bathing suit near the site of the abduction. Her car remained at the beach, and she was never heard from again.

Investigation quickly focused on Marvin Ray "Marty" Dill, a local man who drove a red-and-white Ford Bronco matching a vehicle reported parked next to Heather's car. During a traffic stop, investigators reportedly found in Dill's vehicle a hair resembling Heather's, two guns, two knives, duct tape, rubber gloves, and rope, and bloodstains were noted inside the tailgate. When Kentucky State Police went to question Dill at his home following numerous tips, he sent his wife away and died by suicide before officers could enter, leaving key questions unanswered.

A second name, Christopher Below, has also been raised over the years as a possible suspect, but no one has ever been charged in Heather's disappearance, and no remains have been recovered. Heather's mother, Sarah Teague, spent decades pressing Kentucky State Police for records and answers, at times in public disputes with the agency, and advocating for the case to remain active. The investigation has drawn renewed attention in recent years.

Because Heather's body has never been found and no suspect was ever prosecuted, the case remains officially unsolved, with foul play strongly suspected given the eyewitness account and the physical evidence recovered. In 2024 the Kentucky Attorney General's office announced it was joining the investigation, reflecting continued efforts to resolve one of the state's most enduring abduction cases nearly three decades later.