Dog walker finds body of man missing for 16 months near his home, Nebraska cops say

A man missing for 16 months was found dead less than 1,000 yards from his home, Nebraska authorities say.

Foul play is not suspected in the death of Tyler Goodrich, whose 2023 disappearance sparked nationwide attention, according to Lancaster County Sheriff Chief Deputy Ben Houchin.

“For 16 and a half months I’ve prayed every night,” Goodrich’s father told KOLN. ”I stood at my door, asking him to come up the driveway. I prayed that we would get information and, at least today, we got that one piece.

Goodrich was 35 when he went missing after leaving his home near Lincoln on Nov. 3, 2023, the sheriff’s office said. He left on foot after getting into an argument with his husband, who reported him missing the next day, according to a missing person’s flyer.

A year later, authorities hadn’t called his disappearance a cold case, but they had run out of fruitful leads, according to KOLN.

“In Tyler’s case, we basically have a grainy video of what we think is him leaving the house, and then we have nothing,” Houchin told KLKN in November 2024. “There’s not really any motives, there’s not really any evidence that points to foul play, but something had to have happened.”

Investigators had few credible leads until Saturday, March 8, when a man walking his dog discovered human remains, the sheriff’s office said. The remains were positively identified two days later as belonging to Goodrich.

Houchin said Goodrich’s remains were found in a wooded area 967 yards from his home. An autopsy is scheduled for March 10, but investigators said he was not killed.

His body is believed to have been in the location for more than a year, authorities said. The area had been searched by public volunteers.

“No words will ease the grief of the loss of this for the family. I am glad they get some closure,” Houchin said. “And all the friends, it’s very obvious he was very loved and cared for.”

Goodrich, a veteran and father of two, was described by his father as “a good person” who “strove to be his best at things,” according to Dateline.

Rachel Barth, a lifelong friend of Goodrich, called him “kind, brilliant and unapologetically himself.”

“A red-headed firecracker with a heart bigger than most,” she said in a Facebook post.

Goodrich’s husband, Marshall Vogel, was not considered a suspect in his disappearance, according to KETV. His attorney told KOLN months later that Vogel passed a polygraph test.

In a statement to KFOR, Vogel’s family said it was “heartbroken” by Goodrich’s death.

“This is an unimaginable tragedy,” the family said. “Tyler was a husband, a loving father and a friend to so many. We will feel his absence, but his memory will live on.”

This story was originally published March 10, 2025 at 2:59 PM with the headline "Dog walker finds body of man missing for 16 months near his home, Nebraska cops say."