Oblivion: The Mystery of West Point Cadet Richard Cox [Paperback]

Harry J. Maihafer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1999

On Staturday, January 14, 1950, at 6:18 p.m., Richard Cox left his room at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point gto go to dinner with an unidentified visitor. He never returned.

Despite a massive manhunt and several plausible theories, Cox was never found. In 1957, he was declared legally dead, and the files were closed.

Then, in 1985, Marshall Jacobs, a retired teacher, decided to pursue the case as a research project. Through the Freedom of Information Act, he obtained voluminous once-secret files from the Army and FBI. Jacobs plunged into a labyrinthine search--and what began as a hobby became an obsession. After more than seven years, Jacobs found the one witness who helped him bring the case to a close.

This is his story.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

From Brassey's come two volumes of military history. Victory at Any Cost: The Genius of Viet Nam's Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap, by Cecil B. Currey, offers a thoroughly researched biography of the leader of the Vietnamese Communist forces against the Japanese, French and Americans. Photos. Oblivion: The Mystery of West Point Cadet Richard Cox, by Harry J. Maihafer, diligently explores and solves the questions behind the 1950 disappearance from West Point of the eponymous cadet, which generated national headlines at the time. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

When Cadet Richard Cox disappeared from West Point in l950, theories and rumors abounded, ranging from murder to abduction by the Soviets. In l957, he was declared legally dead, following extensive investigations by both military and civilian agencies. In l985, however, retired teacher Marshall Jacobs began his own investigation. After seven years of interviews with Cox's classmates, family members, neighbors, and government agents, Jacobs unraveled the mystery of the missing cadet. Military writer Maihafer's presentation is detailed and well organized, and although the technique of including seemingly every lead can be somewhat confusing, it gives the reader a grip on how time-consuming and frustrating such an investigation is. A riveting account with a surprise ending; for true-crime collections.
Christine A. Moesch, Buffalo & Erie Cty. P.L., N.Y.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Brassey's US (December 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1574882244
• ISBN-13: 978-1574882247
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,204,226 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good story, bad ending, May 31, 2001

By 

Erin S. (St. Ignace, MI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Oblivion: The Mystery of West Point Cadet Richard Cox (Paperback)

This book held my attention as I read it practically cover to cover. It is very interesting, albeit annoying at times as the author goes in great detail about numerous leads, only to have them ruled out a few pages later. I can see why the author did that -- to show the exhaustive work done by CID and FBI investigators, and also to give the reader a small, small taste of the incredible frustration these investigators must have felt at the time. The problem with the book is that it is highly anti-climatic. The researcher, Jacobs, did not "give up" (as some have implied), he basically solved the mystery it's farthest moral extent. I do recommend reading this book, as it shall hold your attention through and through, but be prepared to be disappointed with the anti-climatic end.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Can be read in 5 hours......because you can't put it down!, January 5, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Oblivion: The Mystery of West Point Cadet Richard Cox (Hardcover)

As a West Point graduate (1984) I often receive gifts from friends and family that reflect this association. This is how I came to have a copy of Oblivion in the first place. I had heard about this book being written, but as a cadet had never heard ANY stories like this at all. I got the impression after reading Oblivion that this is probably the way the Academy would prefer things to be.

The authors painstakingly detail the events leading up to Cadet Cox's disappearance. Their description of cadet life and the environment behind the grey granite walls at the academy is excellent. As one of the authors is himself a graduate, he had walked a mile or two in 'our' moccasins.

As a previous reviewer has mentioned, the ending could have been more detailed. I felt a little let down by the "well, and that's the end" way the book concluded.

Still a very interesting read. So interesting that I began at 1 am and closed it up tight by 6 am.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating story marred by unconvincing "conclusion.", May 22, 2003

By 

"xbklyny" (univ. hts., ohio United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Oblivion: The Mystery of West Point Cadet Richard Cox (Paperback)

I've been interested in the Richard Cox mystery since I was very little and read about it in LIFE magazine in 1950 and then a few years later in CORONET. From time to time over the years I would research the topic hoping for new information. I'd almost given up until I came across this book , containing lots of details never before disclosed. Unfortunately, as mentioned in some of the above reviews, the proposed "solution" at the end is thoroughly unconvincing.