BY ANNIE HOLLER
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
RANSOM — When the Belfry High School Class of 2021 crossed the stage to receive their diplomas, one proud father was missing. Later that year, when football standout Isaac Dixon took the field as a freshman at the University of Kentucky, his father’s cheers lived on only in memory.
Five years after Michael Dixon disappeared, his family is still waiting for answers.
Dixon, 59 at the time he went missing, was a lifelong Pike County resident raised in Ransom with deep ties to the Belfry and Buskirk areas. Family members describe him as devoted to those he loved, especially his mother, Deanne Dixon.
Nothing, they say, could have prepared her for what followed.
On April 14, 2021, several witnesses reported seeing Dixon in the vicinity of the Tug Fork Apartments on KY-292 in Turkey Creek. According to one individual, Dixon planned to go fishing in the Tug River. It was the last day he was allegedly confirmed to be alive.
Police described Dixon as about 5’10” tall and weighing 200 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair beginning to gray.
After he disappeared, Kentucky State Police Post 9 in Pikeville launched a search with assistance from the Pike County Sheriff’s Department, the Belfry Volunteer Fire Department and volunteers with the Office of Emergency Management. Searchers combed wooded areas near where Dixon was last seen and searched the Tug River, but found no evidence.
To this day, he has not been found.
“When the search first began, we still had hopes that maybe he was just injured and would be found,” said Deanne. “But as the days turned into weeks, we had to accept that if we did bring him home, it would be a recovery and not a rescue … Nothing in the world could ever prepare a parent for the pain and anguish of losing a child, no matter their age.”
In the early days of the investigation, police and the family received numerous tips. None brought the answers they needed.
Even after the family offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to Dixon’s recovery, no one came forward with information that closed the case.
As time passed, the family said, public attention faded. Their grief did not.
“My son is not just a name on a missing person flyer,” said Deanne. “He was loved and cherished by many. He was a son, father, brother, uncle, cousin and friend. He was a source of comfort and joy to me. My heart aches for the loss I feel, and his disappearance has left a void that no one or nothing can ever fill.”
At 84, Deanne said time has only sharpened her sense of urgency.
“More than anything, my daily prayer is that before I leave this world, I want to be able to bring my son home and give him the burial he deserves alongside his family,” she said. “He deserves a final resting place where family can visit.”
For Deanne, the focus is not on punishment but on bringing her son home.
“I don’t care about justice,” she said. “Whether the person responsible for my son’s death is ever caught and punished doesn’t change anything for me. The result will always be the same, and Mike is gone and will never come back. Vengeance belongs to God. I just can’t stand the thought of my boy’s remains being somewhere besides where they belong, and that’s here at home with other family members who have passed on.”
Deanne offered wisdom.
“Love your family and tell them how important they are every day,” she said. “Never take a single day for granted, because in the blink of an eye, everything can change. There are no rewinds or do-overs. Love them while you have them.”
Anyone with information about Michael Dixon’s disappearance is urged to contact Kentucky State Police Post 9 in Pikeville at 606-433-7711. Callers do not have to identify themselves.
VANISHED is an ongoing series examining unsolved disappearances, suspicious deaths and cold cases across the region.