William “Bill” Underhill, age 20, vanished from Minneapolis, Minnesota in March 1969.
Many sites state that he vanished on March 1, 1969; it’s worth noting that his sister has a fishing journal kept by him, which has entries through March 6, 1969.
Bill was a student at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. He also had a part-time job there in 1969. He was last known to be at a party in “Dinkytown”. I am a little lost on the geography here, so please correct me if I have any of this wrong. From what I gather, the University was in Minneapolis, his family lived in St. Paul, and the party was in Dinkytown, which Wikipedia defines as a commercial district within a neighborhood in Minneapolis. Some agencies state that the party was on campus, and that the campus was in St. Paul.
In any case, Bill was attending a party with friends, and abruptly left without taking his coat, and without telling anyone where he was going. A friend who was at the party saw him leave and attempted to follow him, but there is still no information on where he went. It is unclear if the person lost track of him quickly, or did not remember once it became clear that he was really missing. I’ve seen no indication of which direction he was headed, or what state of mind he appeared to be in prior to leaving.
Bill’s sister has created an excellent Facebook page dedicated to his memory, and has stated that she believes he may have recently broken up with a girlfriend around that time, and that he may have been worried about being drafted by the military. It was initially believed that he left voluntarily, possibly fleeing to Canada to avoid the draft. However, once a considerable amount of time passed without hearing from him, the idea of him choosing to vanish was dismissed.
Bill did not have a car, and I haven’t seen any details on how he typically would get to and from college. It appears that he lived off-campus with his family in St. Paul. I wonder if he would have hitchhiked, it seems unlikely that he would have gotten a ride with anyone who was at the party, being that someone did follow him and had no idea where he went.
I am hopeful that the person who followed him can be questioned in more detail, perhaps he would be able to provide more information that could lead to some answers. I realize that this was 1969, and things were different, but if I were at a party now and someone got up and went outside, I think I would assume they were stepping out to have a cigarette or get some fresh air. I think I would follow them only if they seemed upset, angry, or were otherwise behaving in a way that caused me to be concerned for their safety.
Bill was an avid outdoorsman. He grew up spending his summers at lakes and parks. He was into fishing and weight lifting. He was 6’2″ and 170 pounds. He would not have been an easy target for any sort of attack.
Someone has to know something, even if it’s something that seems insignificant, it might be a piece of the puzzle. I hope someone will speak up, this family has been waiting for nearly half a century.
Sources:
Facebook Page for William Underhill
Whereabouts Still Unknown 
Dinkytown is very close to the University of Minnesota’s Minneapolis campus, practically on campus. It had a significant student population 1969. There is also a St Paul campus of the U of M, which is a bus or bike ride away from Dinkytown. Young people in Twin Cities would walk longer distances (several miles) in those days and there were also bus lines-according to locals who lived here in the 60’s and 70’s.
Thank you for explaining that. It definitely helps those of us who have never been there, and is much appreciated.