Jeffrey Zoltowski
| Jeffrey Zoltowski | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jeffrey John Zoltowski March 19, 1970 |
| Disappeared | March 31, 1993 (aged 23) Molokai, Hawaii |
| Status | Missing for 31 years, 3 months and 15 days |
| 🏫 Education | Wayne State University (at time of disappearance) |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| Twitter= | |
Jeffrey John Zoltowski (born March 19, 1970) is an American man from Detriot, Michigan, who went missing in Molokai, Hawaii on March 31, 1993. Zoltowski has not been seen since.[1]
Background[edit]
Zoltowski was born on March 19, 1970 and was living in Michigan at the time of his disappearance. He was also a student at Wayne State University in Michigan at that time and maintained a close relationship to his parents, who were divorced. He had a vegetarian diet and refused to wear leather. His loved ones describe him as a compassionate, caring individual who did volunteer work. His mother died shortly after his disappearance.[1]
Disappearance[edit]
Zoltowski was last seen hiking in the Wailua Valley on the island of Molokai in Hawaii on March 31, 1993 at around 8:45 AM.[2] He flagged down a helicopter from the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) to assist him. Zoltowski's feet were blistered and bleeding. He said he was too tired to make the fourteen-mile hike back to where he had first started his hike.[1] He then asked for a ride in the helicopter.
The pilot had apparently refused to fly Zoltowski out of the area because his situation was "not life-threatening". The pilot said he could charter a plane for $650, however, Zoltowski refused because he could not afford it. This was the last time Zoltowski was seen. The ranger did bring Zoltowski's sixty-pound backpack to the DLNR's service yard on Molokai, but Zoltowski never claimed his possessions. His backpack remained in the service yard for forty-one days before he was reported as a missing person.[1]
Possible sighting[edit]
On July 28, 2001, just over eight years after Zoltowski's disappearance, a woman claimed that she saw Zoltowski near a homeless shelter in the vicinity of Nimitz Highway and Sumner Street in Honolulu, Hawaii, close to a nearby K-Mart. The woman reported that the man who resembled Zoltowski called himself Sam or Samuel and asked for money from vehicles stopped in traffic. He had heavy facial scarring, limped, and his speech was slurred, which indicated that, if it was Zoltowski, he may have suffered a severe head injury sometime after his disappearance.[3]
It has not been confirmed that the individual was in fact Zoltowski. Investigators looked for the unidentified man but have not been able to locate him. The area where he was seen is near a homeless shelter run by the Insitute for Human Services, but when questioned, no one at the shelter recognized Zoltowski's picture. According to Zoltowski's family, Zoltowski had traveled to Hawaii to explore, hike and determine what he wanted to do with his life moving forward.
Aftermath[edit]
Ron Zoltowski, Jeffrey Zoltowski's father, said in a 2006 telephone interview with the Honolulu Advertiser that he spends every day of the year looking for his son. "I will never give up. I will go to my grave searching for him," Ron said. Ron believes it is possible that his son may still be alive. However, Joseph Self, a former Honolulu police officer who spent 15 years in Missing Persons and the detective assigned to the Zoltowski case, believes that Jeffrey Zoltowski is likely dead. "I think he's dead," Self said. "You know, anything's possible and he could still be out there, but after all these years, I would have to say it's a long shot, a very remote one."[1]
As of 2023, Zoltowski's disappearance remains unsolved.
See also[edit]
List of people who disappeared mysteriously: 1990–present
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Jeffrey John Zoltowski – The Charley Project". Retrieved 2023-04-29.
- ↑ "Jeffrey John Zoltowski - Hawaii Missing Person Directory". www.missingin.org. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
- ↑ "A father's torment | The Honolulu Advertiser | Hawaii's Newspaper". the.honoluluadvertiser.com. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
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