Conrad Delaney

Overview


A retired police detective originally hailing from Chicago, Illinois, Conrad Delaney is a recent transplant to Atlanta. His once strictly regimented life took a turn he never expected around 5 years ago when his wife Renee vanished in the middle of the night leaving him with more questions than answers.

Life Before Atlanta
Conrad spent most of his adult career in law enforcement, including a brief enlistment in the Army as an M.P., 15 years as a patrol officer, and just over 10 years as a burglary detective in the city of Chicago.

Married during his time in the Army, Conrad and his wife Renee had two children. Their son Robert died of a drug overdose at the age of 17. This created a lot of tension between Conrad and Renee when Connie started drinking heavily to dull the pain. Their daughter Julie (now 34) went on to graduate from college, get married and start a family of her own in far away Atlanta, GA.

The Vanishing
One night nearly five years ago, Connie was involved in an investigation where a burglar stumbled upon the corpse of a deceased drug addict. The painful memories the scene brought up caused Connie to visit the local bar where he spent a good deal of his evening binge drinking. He then stumbled back to his house and climbed into bed next to his sleeping wife Renee.

After a short argument between the couple about Conrad being drunk, Connie blacked out and awoke the next morning. Renee was nowhere to be found, but oddly enough, her nightgown and panties were lying next to him under the bedclothes as if she had simply vanished into thin air.

Connie reported her missing within hours and a police investigation was launched with Connie as the main suspect. News reports, gossip, and internet chatter stirred up so much stress and ill-will toward Connie that he was forced to take an early retirement within a year of Renee's disappearance. His daughter Julie's marriage also became stressed to the point that she and her husband divorced.

Spending much of the last five years investigating the disappearance for himself, Conrad has found no real answers but only more painful questions. He wants to believe that Renee is alive somewhere and has some reason for staying away, but his experience as a cop tells him that the likelihood is that she is not.

Move to Atlanta


Only recently did Conrad decide to sell his Chicago house and move in with his daughter Julie to help her with his 3 grandchildren and paying bills. Conrad has taken a job as a night watch security guard at the Atlanta Journal Constitution newspaper to help supplement his policeman's pension. He also took the job to keep himself busy and not dwell on past events.

The police investigation into Renee's vanishing has remained open but come to an impasse while Chicago investigators continue to hold Connie under suspicion with no real evidence of foul play. Tabloid style newspapers and television shows sometimes mention Renee's disappearance when doing a piece on unsolved mysteries, though many echo the official suspicion that Conrad is somehow involved.

Presence (••••)
Conrad may not be the biggest or baddest person in the room, but his background as a police officer and experience in the interrogation room make it hard not to notice his commanding stature and voice.

Quotes
"You really think you can help me get some answers? I've been looking for so long and I have nothing but more questions." Conrad Delaney regarding his wife's disappearance.