Naman Shrestha
Investigation Discovery’s ‘The Secrets We Bury’ chronicles the decades-long mystery surrounding the vague disappearance of George Carroll from his Long Island, New York, house in the early 1960s. His children, Jean, Patricia, Steven, and Michael, continued asking questions about their father, and two of them took it upon themselves to get to the bottom of his disappearance. More than five decades later, George’s remains were found buried in the basement of the family house, leading to more sinister questions regarding his tragic demise.
George and Dorothy Carroll’s Children Looked Into George’s Disappearance Several Decades Later
Born on February 21, 1933, George Carroll was a Brooklyn, New York native through and through. He dedicated a few years of his life to the US Army during the Korean War. Following that, he returned to the Empire State, where he worked hard to create a fulfilling life in Long Island. Together with his wife, Dorothy AKA Dotty, he welcomed four children — Jean, Patricia, Steven, and Michael. Tragedy struck the Carroll household when George suddenly went missing in 1963. While he didn’t leave a note or evidence behind, the kids claim that Dorothy alleged he went out to buy cigarettes, only to never come back. At the time, their youngest child, Michael AKA Mike, was just 8 months old. On the show, he alleged that they were made to believe for decades that their father had abandoned them.
In the following years, the four children began asking questions about their father’s disappearance. According to the show, Mike Carroll also inquired about the same on his mother’s deathbed on April 17, 1998. He said, “My mother literally turned her head, winked at me, never said a word, then passed away. Whatever secret she had, she went to her grave with that.” Not long after, Mike came across a patient who claimed to be George’s brother and told him that George was buried under the Carroll residence. Mike’s siblings, especially Jean Kennedy, also continued to investigate their father’s unexplained disappearance. When the circumstances surrounding the vanishing, such as the absence of a missing persons report and the last paycheck not being collected, indicated potential foul play, Jean convinced Mike to consult a psychic.
The psychic told them that their father had been murdered and buried in the basement of the house. By then, Mike was the owner of the property, so he spent months digging into the basement. Although most of the Carroll family members considered him crazy, Jean and his two sons, Chris and Michael Carroll Jr., supported him. In the middle of it all, Mike suffered a critical stroke one day and was hospitalized. While he recovered, his sons continued digging until they discovered clothing and human remains on the night before Halloween 2018. The following day, the authorities arrived at the basement and determined that the remains belonged to George Carroll, who had died of blunt force trauma to the head.
What Happened to George and Dorothy Carroll’s Kids?
The year 2018 brought decades-long closure in the lives of the Carroll kids. The discovery of George’s remains confirmed the fact that their father had not walked away from them. Albeit not in the way they had hoped, he had always been around. The youngest Carroll kid, Mike, was just 8 months old and never really got to create core memories with his father. In the documentary, he welled up while opening up about the entire ordeal, right up to discovering his father’s remains with the help of his own kids. Summing it up, he shared, “The truth is, this whole thing’s about loving something that we didn’t know was there.” Jean, George and Dorothy’s eldest kid, expressed, “My mission was to find my dad, and that mission is completed.”
Jean further divulged that she assumed the responsibility for her father’s ashes. “I have my dad with me at all times. I think of him every day. I talk to him every day. It just feels great to have him with me,” she added, explaining that holding the custody of his ashes brings her a sense of closeness to her beloved father. Meanwhile, their brother, Steven, is in possession of George’s shoes, which they excavated with his remains. Talking about it, he declared, “There wasn’t much that I ever had that my father actually owned or gave to me,” he says. “I guess the shoes just kind of give me some connection. This is all I have. The thought of him wearing these shoes when he was in that hold, and they were in the ground for 55 years, it’s kind of hard to wrap my brain around.”
In the documentary, Steven went on to share his perspective on his mother and her decision not to tell him or his siblings about what actually transpired. “I have often thought, why, if my mother knew, why didn’t she ultimately tell us when she was sick? But now that I think about it, I go, I don’t think I would have told my kids. I think if my mother contemplated telling us what actually happened, it would tarnish the way we thought of her, and we thought very highly of her. We loved her.” Since then, the four siblings have been trying to move ahead with their respective lives in the best possible way.
Read More: George Carroll Death: What Happened to Dorothy Carroll and Richard Darress Sr?
