Unsolved Ohio: What happened to Andy Chapman? Man missing for 17 years

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- After a frantic phone call to a family member, Andrew “Andy” Chapman disappeared from his home in the Hilltop area and has not been seen or heard from in 17 years. 

Aimee Chapman, Andy's sister, described him as a kindhearted soul and family man.

“Andy enjoyed being with his family, he enjoyed concerts, he enjoyed camping a lot,” she said. “He just really enjoyed being around people.”

Judy Rafferty, Andy's mother, said he was a shy kid who loved being in Boy Scouts, playing baseball and “all kinds of sports.”

Before his disappearance, in 2004, Andy began taking medication after a car accident which ultimately led to him suffering from a drug addiction, Aimee said. The addiction continued through his disappearance.

Andy went missing on Dec. 8, 2006. At the time, Andy was 32 years old, living with two roommates in a home on Whitethorne Avenue. 

Rafferty was home sick the day Andy went missing. Before he disappeared, she received a phone call from him.

“He called me and said he just had to see me, it was urgent, he had something to give me and he wouldn’t tell me what it was,” Rafferty said.

Rafferty had the flu and was more than an hour's drive away, so she decided not to drive to see Andy. 

A few days later, Rafferty was feeling better and had returned to work, so she drove to Andy’s home. But by the time she arrived, Andy was gone. Rafferty said a neighbor told her Andy and his two roommates had moved out.

“To this day, I just wonder what he had to give to me or what he had to say,” Rafferty said. “I mean my mind just goes through that, not on a daily basis, but quite often. Would things have been different if I hadn’t been sick that day?”

Andy’s family members originally believed in December 2006 that his disappearance was related to his struggle with addiction, but after not hearing from him for about three months, they filed a missing persons report in March 2007.

Several months prior to his disappearance, Andy requested money from his retirement fund. At the end of November 2006, a short time before he vanished, Andy received a check for close to $39,000, according to Aimee. 

She said the check was originally mailed to an address Andy was evicted from a month prior, so his family doesn’t know how he ended up getting the check. He cashed it out and bought a car for about $14,000, Aimee said.

Aimee claims that in July 2007, a family member of one of Andy's former roommates transferred the car title into their name without the knowledge of Andy’s family, who originally didn’t know the car existed. Aimee and Rafferty both believe the car and the money Andy received may be related to his disappearance. Additionally, they weren't able to find a trace of the rest of the money Andy took out from his retirement fund. 

“You don’t disappear and leave the car you just bought,” Aimee said. “There’s no trace of the money and no trace of Andy.” 

They both believe foul play was involved.

“You go waving that kind of money around and something’s going to happen to you,” Rafferty said. 

Though 17 years have passed, Andy’s family has not given up on finding answers. Aimee and Rafferty have appeared on multiple podcasts, attended missing persons events and have begun holding a tower light-up event for Andy’s birthday every year. They also run a Facebook page dedicated to finding Andy. 

“What I go through every day is a rollercoaster of mixed feelings to where I have to pretend everything’s okay on the outside, but on the inside, my heart’s just screaming in pain,” Rafferty said. “It’s just year after year, no answers, no leads, no conclusion to what happened to him.”

Aimee said that when human remains are found in Ohio or surrounding states, she instantly goes into work mode to confirm the remains aren’t Andy’s.

“I think about those remains… legs found… That could be your brother,” Aimee said. “It’s torture.”

At the time of Andy’s disappearance, he was 6 feet tall and weighed 175 pounds. He had brown hair, brown eyes and wore eyeglasses. As of Thursday, he would be 49 years old. 

Central Ohio Crime Stoppers is offering a $4,500 reward to anyone who provides information that leads to the location or recovery of Andy Chapman. The Chapman family is holding a fundraiser to increase that number.

Anyone with information can contact Columbus police at 614-645-4545 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers’ anonymous tip line at 614-461-8477.