Dial was stationed at Howard Air Force Base in the Panama Canal Zone with the United States Air Force in 1966. He went home to Childress, Texas for a visit in May 1966. He was last seen at a family member's residence in the vicinity of the 400 block of Avenue A northeast in Childress.

Dial returned to Panama in June 1966. He kept in telephone contact with his family until July of that year, when he told his family he had married a Panamanian woman named Elsa Caballero. The phone calls stopped after that until 1985, when Dial apparently telephoned a family member once. He may have returned to the Childress area for a visit sometime during 1990.

Authorities believe Dial is living somewhere in the United States and working as a mechanic; an investigation turned up no signs of him in Panama. He may have returned to Texas. There have been no earnings on his Social Security number since 1968. His case remains unsolved.