TN TN - Matthew Pendergrast, 23, Memphis, 1 Dec 2000

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Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance

Missing Since: December 1, 2000 from Memphis, Tennessee
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date Of Birth: January 4, 1977
Age: 23
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 110 lbs
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Blue
Race: White
Gender: Male
Distinguishing Characteristics: Pendergrast is right-handed.
He has facial dimples. Aliases: Matt, Mateo

Details of Disappearance
Pendergrast was a student at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee in 2000. His family resided in Atlanta, Georgia, where his father worked as a plastic surgeon. Pendergrast was last seen leaving his residence in Memphis between 7:30 AM - 8:00 AM on December 1, 2000. He was driving his 1998 maroon Toyota 4Runner sports utility vehicle (SUV) with Georgia license plates 934-PT at the time. Pendergrast was scheduled to attend a Spanish class four blocks from his home that morning. He never arrived and has not been seen again. Pendergrast apparently called a friend in Atlanta that morning; it was the last time anyone has heard from him. Pendergrast's SUV was discovered abandoned in Lonoke County, Arkansas at approximately 2:00 PM that day. The vehicle was located on a private dirt road off of South Kerr Road near Interstate 40. The SUV was parked near the edge of Bayou Meta, a swamp often used by area hunters. Pendergrast's vehicle was unlocked and his keys were in the ignition. His clothes and various personal belongings were found in a pile approximately 100 yards from his SUV. There was no sign of Pendergrast near his vehicle. Extensive searches of the surrounding area produced no clues as to his whereabouts. Authorities have classified Pendergrast's disappearance as suspicious. His case remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Arkansas State Police
800-553-3820
OR
Lonoke County Sheriff's Department
501-676-6494

http://www.nampn.org/cases/pendergrast_matthew.html
 
Matthew Pendergrast was two weeks away from receiving his college diploma when he disappeared with no trace. This mystery is this week's Arkansas Cold Case.


Right off I-40 in Lonoke County, is a very quiet road surrounded by fields and silos. Every once and a while, a car or two passes, while an occasional airplane flys above. But nine years ago, it was anything but peaceful.

Search crews took to the skies, the woods and the waters, looking for any sign of 23-year-old Pendergrast. They used cadaver dogs and even psychics.

Lt. James Kulesa says, "It's probably one of the strangest mysteries I have ever come across since I've been in law enforcement."

Kulesa has never met Pendergrast, but feels like he's known him for years as he's learned his personality, his history and his family.

He explains, "I don't think anybody has forgotten him. The hardest thing is the not knowing."

Pendergrast, a senior at Rhodes College in Memphis, was last seen on Dec. 1, 2000. He was scheduled to attend a Spanish class four blocks from his home that morning but never showed.

His friend, Jason Leawoods, told Today's THV in 2000, "It's unlike him in the sense that he didn't tell anyone, not even his roommate. He's a good person in that sense about telling people where he's going and thinking things through."

The same day he disappeared, his SUV was found 130 miles away in Arkansas. The doors were unlocked. The keys were still in the ignition.

"My opinion is somebody had a part in him leaving," says Kulesa.

Family and friends say he'd never been to Arkansas before and had no ties here.

Kulesa adds, "We didn't have any signs of blood or a struggle or anything like that."

http://www.todaysthv.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=101605
 
23 yrs old, 5'6" and 110 lbs?????

Wonder if his weight is a typo, that's awfully skinny for anyone, especially for someone that height and male.
 
On Kark channel 4 they announced that there is some new information on Matthew and will air the article tonight. There is not a link to this at this time. The kark website is arkansasmatters.com. I will post the link when it airs.
 
they really need more publicity about this case i live in TN and have never heard about it untill today on here
 
From the above article.

For 13 years now, the case has sat as still as the waters of the Bayou Meto, until recently.

"A few months ago, we received some information concerning Matthew Pendergrast," Kulesa shared.

Is it possible the 23-year-old, on his way to Spanish class in Memphis that Friday morning, somehow became a victim.?

"Basically the information we received is that this was a car jacking," Kulesa said.

Could the car, clothes and money have been a set up leading investigators off course?

Kulesa wouldn't dive into specifics, but he holds on to hope there's more left to be seen.

"Somebody knows something," Kulesa insisted. "Who knows? It may be something that could either open this wide open or it could even resolve it."
 
Saw that http://katv.com/ is doing Missing Person Cold Cases updates this week. They have on their FB Page Cover a picture of Matthew and are doing a 15 yr update and it says... What's changed in 15 years...

I pray that means there has been something changed but have not seen any teasers yet.
matthew pendergrast missing 15 years cold case update nov 19 2015 katv.JPG
 
Thanks for posting that article JusticeWillBeServed! I think the saddest missing person's cases are the ones that are never solved and the family is left with no resolution.

I was not sure how to interpret some of the information in the article that occurred in 2013. Did they think the person who showed up to take the polygraph and refused was actually Matthew Pendergrast himself or someone involved in his disappearance?
 
Thanks for posting that article JusticeWillBeServed! I think the saddest missing person's cases are the ones that are never solved and the family is left with no resolution.

I was not sure how to interpret some of the information in the article that occurred in 2013. Did they think the person who showed up to take the polygraph and refused was actually Matthew Pendergrast himself or someone involved in his disappearance?

The letter they received was concerning a missing person, possibly Matthew. They were apparently unable to verify that. The individual that showed up to take the polygraph was one of the persons listed in the letter that supposedly knew something. Very strange, hard to believe a car jacker would leave any money behind. Also kind of eery about the silver elves. Hard to believe too they recovered no Dan or print evidence from the vehicle. Idk, for some reason this sounds more personal to me, like someone who knew him.

This case is almost as strange as Brandon Swanson's. They're poor parents. :(
 
Almost a full year since this one has been bumped. I'm looking at profiles on vicap plus doing a bit of research on the people. It read to me like he ended his own life. Some others seem to have different views though.
 
I saw a link to this thread posted in the Denim/Mostly Harmless thread. I just thought I would give it a bump.

Same here.

I wonder what was said in the phone conversation with the friend in Atlanta, how thoroughly were his car, clothing, and wallet forensically processed, did they think the man who showed up to take the polygraph could have been him or been involved (that article was confusing), and will he be formally ruled-out in the "Mostly Harmless" case?

ETA: My heart goes out to Matthew's family.
 
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Random theory, but could Matthew's reference to "silver elves" have to do with the "machine elves" described by recreational users of DMT?

From what I've read online, the term "machine elves" was coined by Terence McKenna in 1993 to describe what he saw while under the influence of DMT. He described them as "self-transforming," meaning the elves' shapes would emerge from and collapse back into fractal symmetry. Is that what Matthew meant when wrote about elves "walking into water and becoming one with nature again"?

If this is true, could Matthew have been a user? With all due respect to his family, many young people experiment with drugs and successfully hide it from parents or other loved ones. He didn't need to be a regular or dependent user, just maybe recreationally. And if so, maybe he got into trouble that morning because he owed someone money?
 

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