Who killed George Carroll? The Secrets We Bury reveals sinister theories

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The new documentary, The Secrets We Bury, follows a Long Island family’s years-long quest to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of their father, George Carroll.

True crime captivated audiences in 2025, with popular cases like the surprising reveal in “Unknown Number: A High School Catfish” and the in-depth investigation of the Ruby Franke case featured in “Devil in the Family.”

Many submissions this year involve digital trickery, but “The Secrets We Bury” stands out with a genuinely bizarre real-life murder mystery. It started in the 1960s when George Carroll seemingly abandoned his wife and children and was never seen again.

After their mother, Dorothy, passed away in the 1990s, the Carroll siblings began searching for answers, which led them to explore the basement of their childhood home. Please be aware that this story contains spoilers about a sensitive case and may be upsetting to some readers.

Who killed George Carroll?

After many years and with several key suspects now dead, police couldn’t solve the murder of George Carroll. However, the most likely suspect remains Richard Darress, who later married Dorothy, George’s wife.

In 1963, George, a veteran of the Korean War, disappeared from his home on Long Island. His wife, Dorothy, told their four children he’d simply left after going out to buy cigarettes. She never reported him missing, and he left behind all of his belongings – his wallet, car, and final paycheck – making his disappearance even more mysterious.

When his mother faced financial difficulties, Mike Carroll purchased the family home. Later, as she became ill in the late 1990s, he began asking her about his father, hoping to learn more about him.

In a true crime documentary, Mike recounts a heartbreaking moment with his mother on her deathbed. He asked her about his father, but she simply turned her head, winked at him, and passed away without saying a word. This happened on April 17, 1998.

The story took a terrifying turn: Mike’s sister, Jean, brought him to a psychic who shockingly revealed their father hadn’t died of natural causes, but had been murdered and buried somewhere in their basement.

In another event, Mike received an urgent call to the hospital to care for a patient who turned out to be George’s brother—and Mike’s uncle. During this encounter, the uncle insisted he would never have left his four children behind.

Mike began digging, but after he had a stroke, his sons continued the work. They hired experts with radar technology, and the radar detected something unusual beneath the floor.

While digging, they found an underground wall and broke it down, revealing the remains of George Carroll. The family reported their discovery to the police the next day, on Halloween 2018, and a full investigation began.

As Mike explained, discovering information about his father only led to more mysteries. He said it felt like solving one puzzle created a hundred thousand new ones.

The coroner determined George died from a severe head injury, but after that, the family received no further information. With so many years gone by and all the witnesses now deceased, it was impossible to investigate his death as a murder.

But another Carroll sibling, Steve, says that whenever they consider the evidence in the basement, it consistently suggests Darress was involved.

The Secrets We Bury digs into the theories

Investigators believe Richard Darress was responsible for the disappearance of George Carroll, based on current evidence. Darress had just been released from prison for theft and was staying with the Carroll family at the time.

George let Darress stay at his house and asked for help finishing the basement in return. It came out later that Darress was sexually abusing girls and was a danger to them, but this wasn’t known until after George disappeared.

Steve found it odd that Darress seemed to know the basement so well. He noted a pre-existing opening in the floor where the water pump was located, and highlighted that Darress had experience with cement work. Steve suggests this familiarity and skill set are noteworthy given the opening’s presence.

As the family learned more, they intended to talk to Darress about it, but he passed away before they had the chance.

Richy, the half-brother of the Carrolls and son of Richard Darress Jr., first thought his father didn’t mean to kill George. He believes George might have fallen and hit his head, and that Darress, in a panic, tried to hide what happened by pouring cement over him.

Some people suggested George had a quick temper. Jean mentioned hearing about his “heavy hands” and wonders if it stemmed from post-traumatic stress from his time in Korea. This sparked the idea that he might have accidentally killed George while trying to protect Dorothy.

But the documentary uncovers a much more disturbing side to the story. Pat Carroll, the siblings’ sister, left home at age 15 and later confided in Mike’s son, Chris, that their father, Darress, had sexually abused her.

Jean says she didn’t initially believe Pat, but then realized she had also been abused by Darress, starting when she was eight years old. Mike adds that he was also physically abused by their stepfather.

As I dug deeper, a really disturbing pattern started to emerge. It turns out Darress had apparently been abusing girls in other homes he’d lived in before. My friend Mike put it perfectly – he said Darress was a predator. And Steve remembered a relative telling him that Darress had exposed himself to girls not long after moving into a new place. It’s just awful.

Steve is trying to recall if his father had a tense conversation with Darress and potentially offered him money. He wonders if the day his father returned home and either confronted Darress or his mother was the same day Darress attacked him with a pipe wrench.

This leads to the most difficult question: what did Dorothy actually know? She never reported her friend missing, didn’t speak about it before she died, and continued her relationship with Darress even after accusations of abuse surfaced.

Some family members believe Dorothy might have been threatened and forced to stay silent, possibly because she feared losing her possessions or getting herself involved. Richy wonders if his mother told the police anything, it could reveal uncomfortable truths about George Carroll’s death, putting everyone in a difficult position.

Jean eventually forgives her mother, understanding that Dorothy was simply trying to survive and protect her children in the best way she knew how. However, not everyone agrees. Steve wonders why Dorothy didn’t reveal anything on her deathbed – was her silence a final effort to maintain the image her children had of her?

The documentary doesn’t offer easy answers, and that’s intentional. It shows a family grappling with the aftermath of a painful truth that came to light after many years.

You can watch the true crime documentary The Secrets We Bury on HBO Max. If you’re interested in other true crime stories, you might also want to check if a second season of Sean Combs: The Reckoning is planned, learn about what motivated Kendra Licari, and find out the current whereabouts of Susan Lorincz.

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2025-12-17 12:50