Relatives of man missing since 2014 believe he was victim of foul play

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - It has been nine years since an Evanston man disappeared without a trace. His family believes he was met with foul play.

Relatives of Timothy Stanton have not been able to make new memories with him since Sept. 29, 2014, the day Stanton disappeared.

“He was a big brother like a protector would be. He always was there. He always loved animals,” Jennifer Taylor, Stanton’s sister, said. “Everywhere he’d go, he would make a friend, make you laugh, tell a joke.”

Taylor recalled, that in 2014, Stanton was going through a tough time.

Records from the Cincinnati Police Department showed Stanton was having problems with his wife and struggled with substance abuse.

He was also diagnosed with a mental illness. Taylor said he was taking his medication regularly.

According to the family, Stanton had discovered he was a father of two. He was working on catching up on lost time by building bonds with his children, including his son Austin Deller.

“Great dad for what I could experience,” Deller said. “He’s a caring, helpful guy. Doesn’t matter who you are, he would’ve helped you out.”

“Of course you know, [there was] typical baby mom, baby dad, wife drama,” Taylor said. “He was getting pulled in every direction.”

Stanton did not have a car, so he walked and took the bus to get around. He was last seen leaving his grandmother’s home on Fairfax Avenue in Evanston, which is where he was living at the time.

“He would check in with her [his grandmother], and her number has been the same for my entire life - for 34 years. For him to not have called anyone, called grandmother at least, and then after our mom passed in 2020, that kind of just let me know that there’s something wrong,” Taylor said.

Investigators looked into reported sightings, and Stanton’s family members searched for him in areas he frequented, like Walnut Hills, Clifton and Washington Park, but nothing led them to Stanton.

When they tried calling his cell phone, it went to voicemail.

“He didn’t have any credit cards or anything like that. I would check his Facebook periodically,” Taylor said. “Not knowing is the worst part of it all. People find their family members three days later, a year later, but it’s coming up on nine years. We don’t know anything.”

Despite the difficulties he was facing, Stanton’s relatives are adamant that he would not have chosen to be gone this long because he deeply loved his family.

They said he had been threatened in the months before his disappearance, and some people he was close to seemed suspiciously unconcerned once he was gone.

“I definitely think it was foul play,” Taylor said. “Until Timothy tells me out of his own mouth they had nothing to do with it, they had everything to do with it.”

Deller, who was 16 when his dad vanished, tries to hold on to hope, even though it is not easy.

“I went into a deep depression, just tried to convince myself I didn’t care what happened, which obviously is not true,” he said. “Just wanting my Christmas present that year to be my dad.”

For Deller and Taylor, it is something that impacts them every day.

“It’s just different moments of life I missed out on,” Deller said. “I just wish I could see my dad one more time.”

As time ticks by, they pray their heartbreak will turn into healing.

“It would be closure to let that little glimmer of hope that we still have, to let that go, so that we can continue the healing process because right now it’s just an open wound that every time you look at, it’s still there. It’s not healing,” Taylor said.

Taylor identified the individuals she believes could have been involved in her brother’s disappearance, but FOX19 is not naming them since they have not been charged.

Stanton’s then-wife did not speak on camera but said the day Stanton vanished was the worst day of her life, adding that she does not know what happened to him.

Anyone with information is asked to call Cincinnati Police at 513-765-1212 or Crime Stoppers at 513-352-3040.

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