Circumstances of Disappearance
Deriggi told his mother he was going to the store on July 27, 1973. He was never seen or heard from again.
Lanny was born four weeks premature at Northshore Medical Center. He had a deviated septum. Despite a diagnosis of extreme hyperactivity, Lanny scored a 160 on an IQ test.
The Deriggis lived in a 1950s-era house on the 400 block of Northwest 112th Terrace, across from an old dog-racing track, down the street from Barry University. Lanny loved their backyard pool. His hangout was often the Barry athletic field.
After Lanny turned 13, his behavior worsened. Children began to pick on him at school.
Lanny had started running away, for brief spells. Once, he was found in Fort Lauderdale. Another time, his mother found him at the Barry field, alone.
He vanished during his family's vacation. They had all spent a couple days camping in the Florida Everglades. They returned home late on July 26, about 10 p.m., planning to drive to Disney World the next day.
The next morning, his mother was sleeping when Lanny asked to go to Barry to play. Lanny left the house. When he did not return, his mother did not call the authorities right away, as Lanny usually returned quickly. A day or two passed before she dialed Miami Shores police. Officers found some of his belongings in the hedges of a near-by house. They speculated he was meeting somebody. Investigators interviewed neighborhood friends, to no avail.