Cam Lyman (born Camilla Lowell Lyman; September 4, 1932 – ) was a multimillionaire

breeder A breeder is a person who selectively breeds carefully selected mates, normally of the same breed, to sexually reproduce offspring with specific, consistently replicable qualities and characteristics. This might be as a farmer, agriculturalist ...

of champion

Clumber spaniel The Clumber Spaniel is a breed of dog of the spaniel type, developed in the United Kingdom. It is the largest of the spaniels, and comes in predominantly white with either lemon or orange markings. The name of the breed is taken from Clumber Par ...

s and Bernese mountain dogs, who notably died under mysterious circumstances. Lyman's father was Arthur T. Lyman, a prominent Bostonian and scion of the wealthy Lyman family who made their money in the China trade and later in

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Although some were driven ...

s and the cotton trade. Lyman was a

trans man A trans man or transgender man is a man who was assigned female at birth. Trans men have a male gender identity, and many trans men undergo medical and social transition to alter their appearance in a way that aligns with their gender identi ...

. ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' reported that, as a middle-aged adult, Lyman was "known to acquaintances as a man" and cultivated "a male identity". He disappeared in 1987 and was declared dead in 1995.

Biography

Lyman bred and trained Clumber spaniels and Bernese mountain dogs, and was well known for being talented but rather reclusive. After the death of his father from lung cancer in 1968, Lyman began to withdraw from his remaining family, moving from the family estate "Ricefields" on Thacher Street in Westwood, Massachusetts, to a home in Rhode Island, wearing men's clothing, and reportedly taking steroids prescribed for his dogs to grow a mustache, as well as wearing his hair in a traditionally masculine hairstyle. By 1985, he had the typical appearance of a male (according to some, he looked startlingly similar to his deceased father by this time) and went by the name Cam. It was during this time that Lyman began to associate with a man named George O'Neil. O'Neil became caretaker of Lyman's estate, and fed, showed, and took care of his dogs. In 1987, Lyman's relatives failed to receive the customary Christmas card from him. They investigated his disappearance and discovered that no one had seen or heard from Lyman in months. Police questioned O'Neil, who claimed that in the summer of 1987, he and Lyman had a fight over the phone about the dogs, and Lyman hung up on him. The next day, O'Neil went over to Lyman's house and found the phone ripped out of the wall and the doors wide open. O'Neil claimed that he believed Lyman had gone to Europe to undergo sexual reassignment surgery. However, O'Neil failed to provide police any proof that Lyman had gone to Europe. O'Neil also failed to explain why he had not informed anyone of Lyman's disappearance for nearly six months. On September 24, 1997, Lyman's body was found in a

septic tank A septic tank is an underground chamber made of concrete, fiberglass, or plastic through which domestic wastewater (sewage) flows for basic sewage treatment. Settling and anaerobic digestion processes reduce solids and organics, but the treatment ...

on his estate in

Hopkinton, Rhode Island Hopkinton is a town in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 8,398 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Hopkinton is named after Stephen Hopkins (politician), Stephen Hopkins, a signer of the Unit ...

, by owners who had recently purchased the house. His final will named the American Kennel Club's Museum of the Dog as the sole beneficiary. The story was featured on ''

Unsolved Mysteries ''Unsolved Mysteries'' is an American mystery documentary television series, created by John Cosgrove and Terry Dunn Meurer. Documenting cold cases and paranormal phenomena, it began as a series of seven specials, presented by Raymond Burr, Kar ...

'', but as of 2011, no one has ever been charged in the case. In 2003, George O'Neil was indicted for embezzling $15,000 from Lyman's estate. O'Neil was sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to pay $450 in court costs. He died in 2011 without giving any more information on Cam Lyman's death.

Biography

See also

Notes

Further reading