Cam Lyman (born Camilla Lowell Lyman; September 4, 1932 – c. 1987) was a multimillionaire breeder of champion Clumber spaniels and Bernese mountain dogs, who notably died under mysterious circumstances. Lyman's father was Arthur T. Lyman, a prominent Bostonian and scion of the wealthy Lyman family who made their money in the China trade and later in cotton mills and the cotton trade.
Cam Lyman | |
|---|---|
| Born | Camilla Lowell Lyman September 4, 1932 Westwood, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Disappeared | c. July 1987 (aged 54) Hopkinton, Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Status | Declared dead in absentia June 1995 |
| Body discovered | September 24, 1997 Hopkinton, Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Occupation | Dog breeder |
Lyman was a trans man. The Independent reported that, as a middle-aged adult, Lyman was "known to acquaintances as a man" and cultivated "a male identity".[citation needed] He disappeared in 1987 and was declared dead in 1995.[1]
Biography
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Lyman bred and trained Clumber spaniels and Bernese mountain dogs, and was well known for being talented but rather reclusive. After the death of his father from lung cancer in 1968, Lyman began to withdraw from his remaining family, moving from the family estate "Ricefields" on Thacher Street in Westwood, Massachusetts, to a home in Rhode Island, wearing men's clothing, and reportedly taking steroids prescribed for his dogs to grow a mustache, as well as wearing his hair in a traditionally masculine hairstyle. By 1985, he had the typical appearance of a male (according to some, he looked startlingly similar to his deceased father by this time) and went by the name Cam. It was during this time that Lyman began to associate with a man named George O'Neil. O'Neil became caretaker of Lyman's estate, and fed, showed, and took care of his dogs.
In 1987, Lyman's relatives failed to receive the customary Christmas card from him. They investigated his disappearance and discovered that no one had seen or heard from Lyman in months. Police questioned O'Neil, who claimed that in the summer of 1987, he and Lyman had a fight over the phone about the dogs, and Lyman hung up on him. The next day, O'Neil went over to Lyman's house and found the phone ripped out of the wall and the doors wide open. O'Neil claimed that he believed Lyman had gone to Europe to undergo sexual reassignment surgery. However, O'Neil failed to provide police any proof that Lyman had gone to Europe. O'Neil also failed to explain why he had not informed anyone of Lyman's disappearance for nearly six months.
On September 24, 1997, Lyman's body was found in a septic tank on his estate in Hopkinton, Rhode Island,[2][3] by owners who had recently purchased the house.[4][5] His final will named the American Kennel Club's Museum of the Dog as the sole beneficiary.[citation needed] The story was featured on Unsolved Mysteries, but as of 2011, no one has ever been charged in the case.[6]
In 2003, George O'Neil was indicted for embezzling $15,000 from Lyman's estate. O'Neil was sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to pay $450 in court costs.[citation needed] He died in 2011 without giving any more information on Cam Lyman's death.
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ Gerald M. Carbone (June 2, 1995). "Missing millionaire Cam Lyman declared dead". Providence Journal.
- ^ "Skeleton in the Septic Tank Reopens Mystery of Missing Millionaire". Los Angeles Times. January 11, 1998. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
- ^ Petty, Terrence (October 25, 1998). "Skeleton Identified as Missing Millionaire". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
- ^ Terrence Petty (December 27, 1997). "Transvestite Death A Mystery". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved February 25, 2012.[dead link]
- ^ Petty, Terrence (December 27, 1997). "The human skeletal remains found in a septic tank in September have reopened a decade-old case". Park City Daily News. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
- ^ Petty, Terrence (July 9, 1999). "TV show yields possible clues in case of the murdered Boston heiress". Boston.com. Archived from the original on April 10, 2003.
Further reading
edit- Hélèna Katz, Cold Cases: Famous Unsolved Mysteries, Crimes, and Disappearances in America, pp. 333–338, ABC-CLIO, 2010