Michael James Delaney (Courtesy Iowa Department of Public Safety)
Michael Delaney, 49, was reported missing to the Davenport Police Department on July 3, 2008. Police considered Delaney’s disappearance as “very suspicious” because he lived with his 17-year-old daughter and maintained contact with her many times a day.
Neither Delaney nor his white extended-cab Chevrolet Silverado 4-wheel drive pick-up truck — a model between 2000 and 2004 with “Z-71” on the side of the box — have been seen since the day he went missing.
Courtesy photo Quad-City TimesDelaney was described as a 49-year-old 5-foot-10 white male with brown hair, blue eyes, and weighing about 190 pounds.
He had just recently purchased the vehicle, but hadn’t yet got it registered or licensed. The vehicle had license plates that didn’t belong on the truck, as Delaney was ineligible to legally register a vehicle in his name because of his driving history.
Officials made a public plea to private citizens and dealers who may have sold such a truck to Delaney, and asked them to contact the Davenport Police Department. Police said they still needed to obtain information on the vehicle including the VIN number.
Mark Edward Handlon is a “person of interest” in the Michael James Delaney missing person case. (Courtesy Quad-City Times)
“We’re not getting a lot of facts that match up,” Capt. David Struckman said after Delaney went missing. “It’s an extensive and intensive investigation right now.”
On July 23, 2008, the Quad-City Times reported that Davenport police were seeking a “person of interest” in Delaney’s case. Mark Edward Handlon, 53, was wanted on warrants by both the Bettendorf, Iowa, and Moline, Ill., police departments.
Officials suspected Handlon of taking a white 2000 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck from a Bettendorf car dealership in June 2008 and not returning it. He also allegedly stole money from a Moline restaurant.
Henry County, Ill. officials took Handlon into custody September 4, 2008, and charged him with Burglary. Handlon received a 12-year sentence to be served at the Illinois Department of Correction’s Shawnee Correctional Center, but on September 4, 2014, was discharged and placed on parole.
Courtesy Illinois Department of CorrectionsHe later failed to report to his parole officer and his current offender status is listed as “absconder.”
Prior to his 2008 incarceration, Handlon served close to a dozen other stints in prison for burglary charges beginning in October 1978. In addition to burglary, other offenses since 1978 include “Felon Fail/Return from Furlough,” “Escape of Felon from a Penal Institution,” “Forgery and Making/Altering of a Document,” “Issuing and Delivering a Forged Document,” and thefts ranging from $300 to $10,000.
Born December 11, 1954, Handlon is described as a 5-foot-9 white male with brown hair and brown eyes.
If you have any information about Michael Delaney’s whereabouts or knowledge of what became of his vehicle, please contact Davenport Police Department Lt. Gilbert Proehl at (563) 326-7778, Det. Shannon Hughes at (563) 326-6147, or Crime Stoppers at (309) 762-9500.
If your looking Mark Edward Handlon. You should stake out his exwifes residence at 4903 28th Avenue, Moline, IL. Because if he’s not there. She will definitely know how to get a hold of him. And definitely knows where he’s at for sure. Because she is constantly calling him. She is probably hiding him at her house. Or at one of her relatives houses that live around her house. That’s probably for sure where you will find him. Don’t stop looking for him at all. And when you find him. You need to arrest him immediately along with his exwife. Marilee Handlon at 4903 28th Ave, Moline, IL.
I wonder if Mr. Handlon is such a wanted person, why the service of the warrant was not turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service. They should be able to track him down. I wonder if he was in the scrap metal business, he may have disposed of Mr. Delaney at some facility.
Mark Handlon is definitely a felon. He stole money from me. And he was cheating scrap metal recyclers in the Quad-Cities area. He stole two trucks from lady that I live with. And he he lived there. And stole $1,000.00 plus more money from the lady & me awhile lot.
I know Mark Edward Handlon is a felon & a thief. He stole money from me & tried to kill me in the Motel 6 motel in Moline, IL. He had such a terrible & threatening anger. And it was worse when I worked with him. Doing scrap metal business. He always said, he would watch out for me(Gary Sobie). And give me money from the work that we did. But he(Mark)always was carrying lots of money with him. But he would always keep most of it for himself & exwife(Marilee Handlon). Her address is: 4903 28th Ave, Moline, IL. And if any police department is looking for Mark. Look at his exwifes house for sure. And watch her house, because she is a co-conspirator with Mark.
The question is why did Handlon took the truck. Was it for another criminal enterprise. Also, did Delaney have a criminal record, or needed the money. Also, you woyld think that the dealership would have the VIN for all the vehicles in their possession.
I know Handlon did this. He was my cellmate in Sheridan, and used to talk about Delaney quite a bit.
Where is the money?
Please email me with more information. Delaney is my uncle.
Saracasper1@gmail.com
Prayers To The Family…Hope they can get to the bottom of this to what happened to him..Hopefully someone will come forward with information.
With the truck not ever being seen again, it raises the possibility that both are at the bottom of a body of water. Hope not, but it is a possibility.
I pray someone comes forward. I pray for the family.
I’m from davenport n never heard of this!!!!
How sad for his family. I have to wonder though if maybe he had an accident and has not been found. It seems to happen more often than I ever thought. He could be in a body of water, over a cliff or somewhere that cannot be seen from the road.
Hello! I left another message in the wrong area. I am correcting that by reposting the message here. I do not know anyone in the following case but I spend time scouring over cold cases. In the case of Michael James Delaney: Mark Edward Handlon, your person of interest is in the Illinois Department of Corrections, Shawnee Correctional Center. He has been there since Sept 4, 2008.
I assume tht you know this, but just in case you don’t, I wanted to let you know. Thanks Vickie