Dale Kerstetter

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Bradford Township Police Department (PA)

Missing From:

Bradford, Pennsylvania

Summary:

Dale Kerstetter, a 50-year-old maintenance mechanic and weekend security guard at Corning Glass Works in Bradford, Pennsylvania, left his home on Saturday, September 12, 1987 at around 10:30 pm. A total of $250,000 worth of platinum pipe went missing during his shift, and he was never seen again. In July 2014, Dale was declared legally dead, with his date of death listed as the day of his disappearance.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Disappearance:

On Saturday, September 12, 1987, Dale Kerstetter left his Bradford, Pennsylvania home around 10:30 pm in his red Jeep pickup truck and drove approximately 10 miles to the Corning Glass Works plant, where he had worked for 29 years as a maintenance mechanic and weekend security guard. As usual, he arrived a few minutes early for his 11:00 pm shift. He chatted briefly with the second-shift security guard, Art Peterson, then settled in for his overnight shift. All other employees had left the building, leaving Dale alone in the 112,000-square-foot factory. Shortly before 7:00 am on Sunday, first-shift security guard John Lindquist arrived to relieve Dale and expected to find him sitting in the security office as usual, but Dale wasn't there. On the morning of September 13, a fellow security guard found Kerstetter's lunch pail, newspaper and keys on a cafeteria table. Investigators discovered that $250,000 worth of platinum pipe was missing. An examination of security tapes from three security cameras showed a masked intruder in the back of the plant. In one shot, the intruder was seen around the area where the platinum was missing. In a second shot, Kerstetter is seen talking to the masked intruder. As both Kerstetter and the intruder walked out of the second floor, Kerstetter looked directly into the security camera. Dale's scent was tracked throughout the plant — even deviating from his usual security route and ending up at the glass furnace. The police ruled out that the furnace had been used, since the furnace hadn't even been switched on that night. A third shot shows the intruder wheeling out a large bag. Police speculate that the bag contained the missing platinum or Kerstetter's body. In his truck, police found his day pack, his keys still in the ignition, a full carton of cigarettes, and the holster for his .22 caliber pistol.

Additional Details:

Kerstetter was having financial problems at the time of his disappearance, and Bradford police believe that he willingly participated in the robbery. Inspector Max J. Bizzak of the Pennsylvania State Police was one of the lead investigators on the case and determined Dale Kerstetter was approximately $30,000 to $40,000 in arrears on various payments—trailer payments, vehicle payments and different bills. His family disagrees, stating he was very close to his six children and would not have abandoned them. One of Kerstetter's daughters noted that security guards at the plant were supposed to check in every hour. Between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m., he did not check in. Dale's best friend, Bob Hartle, also does not believe that Dale was involved in the theft. The two had spent many times together on hunting trips prior to his disappearance. In 1990, Wendy petitioned the Pennsylvania Superior Court to have Dale declared legally dead. An attorney for Corning argued against it. In December, the court ruled against Wendy's petition, noting the following: the evidence was "too vague"; it could not be proven that Dale met with any harm that night; and seven years had not yet elapsed following his disappearance. In July 2014, Dale was finally declared legally dead, and Corning was ordered to pay twenty-seven years' worth of interest on his pension as well as interest on his life insurance proceeds. One of the strangest sightings placed him in Norway in 1987, where a man who bore a resemblance to Dale died after being hit by a train. The Kerstetter family was alerted to this, but after seeing the individual—who remains unidentified—felt certain it wasn't Dale. Kerstetter's case remains unsolved and foul play is suspected in his disappearance. The disappearance of the platinum and also of Kerstetter are the subjects of continuing investigations by the Bradford Township Police, the Pennsylvania State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Case Last Updated:

Aug 29, 2026