WA WA - Logan Schiendelman, 19, Tumwater, 20 May 2016

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One of my first thoughts when I saw this news but Black Diamond is about an hour from where Logan was last seen. Not saying it’s not possible but I tend to think Logan will be located not far from where he was last seen, if he’s found. Western Washington has such dense terrain with all the trees and greenery, it’s hard to search through.
 
I've lived in this area for a long time (my entire life) and I can remember when Logan first went missing, I thought he would be found pretty quickly as I think most people did, but now its October of 2019 and he is still missing.

I have a coworker who isn't from around here and I asked her to read up on the case and give me her thoughts (we're both into investigations/cases and send each other them frequently).

What I find super interesting about this case is the fact Logan was driving south, turned around and drove north before turning back around and going south which is ultimately where his car was found. I don't understand why he would've turned around so many times? Did he work in Centralia or Chehalis? Why would he have been heading South anyway? and why would he turn back around North, was something forgotten maybe? The entire thing feels weird to me. Nobody gets off and back onto the freeway 3 separate times... and if he did what exits were he taking, is there no footage from the Pilot or any other area on any of those exits/entrances to the freeway? The driving aspect of this makes sense. Another thing that feels weird about this is it's reported about 2:00pm that his car crashed into the center median and then someone pulled over and ran into the woods. Nobody stopped? Pulled over or called 911 and waited? Obviously it's a random weird accident but if I saw it happen I would report it immediately.

What doesn't make sense to me is, yes, this area is very barren and in the woods like most people have said. Besides exit 99 and the Pilot the only thing out there would be private property. But people are making it sound so easy to get lost in the woods in this area. I think yeah, it would be easy to get lost if you were intoxicated in any capacity but I myself would easily be able to find my way back to the road if not to someone's house or property to ask for a phone/help/directions. I can't believe that even if he was intoxicated in some sort of way he wouldn't just sit down until it passed and then gotten up and figured it out? It was only 2pm, even high on Molly or something of the sort he'd have to come down within 4-6 hours and should've been able to find his way back.

I guess what I think is there was foul play involved. I myself do not believe that he made a choice to just leave or disappear. I think something happened to this young man and I believe it is very possible he's still alive. People do crazy *advertiser censored* all the time, he could be held captive somewhere or been forced to leave the state or city by someone, like who knows what could've happened? I really do not suspect anything but foul play here. The fact anyone can believe he maybe committed suicide or anything of the sort is mind boggling to me.

I hope he is found someday. His family deserves peace and to know where he is. Logan if you're out there, someone will find you.
 
bxvan said:
I've lived in this area for a long time (my entire life) and I can remember when Logan first went missing, I thought he would be found pretty quickly as I think most people did, but now its October of 2019 and he is still missing.

I have a coworker who isn't from around here and I asked her to read up on the case and give me her thoughts (we're both into investigations/cases and send each other them frequently).

What I find super interesting about this case is the fact Logan was driving south, turned around and drove north before turning back around and going south which is ultimately where his car was found. I don't understand why he would've turned around so many times? Did he work in Centralia or Chehalis? Why would he have been heading South anyway? and why would he turn back around North, was something forgotten maybe? The entire thing feels weird to me. Nobody gets off and back onto the freeway 3 separate times... and if he did what exits were he taking, is there no footage from the Pilot or any other area on any of those exits/entrances to the freeway? The driving aspect of this makes sense. Another thing that feels weird about this is it's reported about 2:00pm that his car crashed into the center median and then someone pulled over and ran into the woods. Nobody stopped? Pulled over or called 911 and waited? Obviously it's a random weird accident but if I saw it happen I would report it immediately.

What doesn't make sense to me is, yes, this area is very barren and in the woods like most people have said. Besides exit 99 and the Pilot the only thing out there would be private property. But people are making it sound so easy to get lost in the woods in this area. I think yeah, it would be easy to get lost if you were intoxicated in any capacity but I myself would easily be able to find my way back to the road if not to someone's house or property to ask for a phone/help/directions. I can't believe that even if he was intoxicated in some sort of way he wouldn't just sit down until it passed and then gotten up and figured it out? It was only 2pm, even high on Molly or something of the sort he'd have to come down within 4-6 hours and should've been able to find his way back.

I guess what I think is there was foul play involved. I myself do not believe that he made a choice to just leave or disappear. I think something happened to this young man and I believe it is very possible he's still alive. People do crazy **** all the time, he could be held captive somewhere or been forced to leave the state or city by someone, like who knows what could've happened? I really do not suspect anything but foul play here. The fact anyone can believe he maybe committed suicide or anything of the sort is mind boggling to me.

I hope he is found someday. His family deserves peace and to know where he is. Logan if you're out there, someone will find you.
Click to expand...

The thing with Molly is you get super hot and euphoric at the same time and this is why so many people bolt into the woods or into a lake. I agree with you though, that this case has some foul play involved and it wasn't Logan running off.

The wiki article on this case is a great refresher and summary for anyone revisiting it. I've c/p the witness section below:

Disappearance of Logan Schiendelman - Wikipedia

Witness sightings

A police sketch was completed by Thurston County Police of one man seen standing with Schiendelman near his car on Interstate 5 the day he disappeared
Shortly after Schiendelman's disappearance, several witnesses came forward to Thurston County Police stating they had witnessed Schiendelman's vehicle on Interstate 5 the morning of May 20:[1] A woman driving on the interstate that morning reported seeing Schiendelman with two caucasian men standing at the back of his car, which was parked on the right shoulder of the interstate near Exit 95.[1] She recalled seeing the car in the same location when returning home that evening, but this time with the hood lifted, and no one visibly present.[1] She described one of the men as being around 6 feet 0 inches (1.83 m) tall with a thin build, blond hair in a bowl cut, and wearing a tank top and jean shorts that were too small for him.[1] The other man was described as having shoulder-length blond hair, and wearing a flannel shirt with jeans.[1] On June 30, 2017, law enforcement released a police sketch of the former man.[20]

Around 2:00 p.m. on May 20, three individuals called 9-1-1 to report a car matching Schiendelman's drifting across the lanes of Interstate 5 between Tumwater and Maytown, near the milepost where Schiendelman's car had been discovered.[1] The witnesses reported that the car veered across three lanes toward the center divider,[21] hitting the concrete barrier and stopping.[1] No one appeared to be driving the car.[1] A truck driver passing by reported seeing a caucasian man with brown or red hair jumping out of the vehicle's passenger side and running into the woods on the side of the interstate.[1]

Later in the evening of May 20, there was a potential sighting of a naked teenager in the area, though the identity of the individual is unknown; Thurston County Detective Frank Frawley stated: "We thought that might have been Logan... And so they did initiate a search using dogs. They didn't locate anything. Could've been Logan, could've been anybody."[5] The last clothing Schiendelman was known to be wearing included a black windbreaker, a white shirt, jeans, and possibly a pair of Nike tennis shoes.[2]
 
I think the person on I-5 seen running into the woods was not Logan. From the eyewitness accounts, this person did not match his description.

My theory is that something happened to Logan at a different location, and this person on the interstate was dumping his car. This person may have considered leaving his car on someone's private property or perhaps at a business, but became paranoid about being traced, so thought leaving it on the side of the interstate was the best idea.
 
On May 20, 2016, Logan Schiendelman’s black 1996 Chrysler Sebring convertible was found abandoned on Interstate 5 between Tumwater and Maytown, Washington, one day after he was last seen at his parents’ home. Several drivers called 911 to report the vehicle on the shoulder and seeing a man, described as white with light brown or red hair jumping out and running into the woods. Earlier in 2018, a woman came forward saying she thought she saw two men in the back seat with a man matching Logan’s description. The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office has received many tips regarding potential sightings, as well as where remains may be located, but there have been no concrete leads into his disappearance. More than 14,000 people are part of the Facebook group ‘Logan Schiendelman is Missing’ and family members continue to post periodic updates on the case. Foul play has not been ruled out in the case, and Logan’s loved ones say they cannot imagine that he would run away. There is currently a $10,000 reward for information leading to his whereabouts.

Six years of Dateline's Missing in America: 134 still missing
 
I hope that he is alive, for the sake of his family, that is still waiting with open arms.
 
Moonbeam456 said:
From recent posts on the Facebook page run by his aunt it seems as though his family is hearing that local people involved in the drug scene know what happened but are not willing to speak up, one woman has even stated “I’ll tell him if and when I’m good and ready”

in regards to talking to the detective on the case. If this is the case, I’m beyond disgusted, how could you keep a family in the dark when they have desperately been searching for their loved one? Make an anonymous call or send a letter, do something to help these poor people. It’s sad that drugs would matter more than the truth.
Click to expand...

@Moonbeam456 Stumbled onto this case..... Reading your posts....they are great! Thank you for sharing your experience with drugs....horrific..glad you made it. I find it a very serious crime if you give somebody not knowing, something that makes you that "crazy". Very dangerous...happy somebody you trusted was with you. I'm not anti drugs perse but this is outrages and evil. And I agree totally with you.....what kind of human being are you not helping a desperate family.
 
Don't ask my why...but this unidentified person came up researching another case...
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

It's a Caucasian female, so obvious not Logan (mistakes are made, just the other day somebody who was listed as Caucasian turned up to be a African American missing person....but this would be a real big one)

This UID was found at this location. Of course I don't know the environment coming from abroad, but it made me think.

خرائط ‪Google‬‏‏
 
Vail said:
The thing with Molly is you get super hot and euphoric at the same time and this is why so many people bolt into the woods or into a lake. I agree with you though, that this case has some foul play involved and it wasn't Logan running off.

The wiki article on this case is a great refresher and summary for anyone revisiting it. I've c/p the witness section below:

Disappearance of Logan Schiendelman - Wikipedia

Witness sightings

A police sketch was completed by Thurston County Police of one man seen standing with Schiendelman near his car on Interstate 5 the day he disappeared
Shortly after Schiendelman's disappearance, several witnesses came forward to Thurston County Police stating they had witnessed Schiendelman's vehicle on Interstate 5 the morning of May 20:[1] A woman driving on the interstate that morning reported seeing Schiendelman with two caucasian men standing at the back of his car, which was parked on the right shoulder of the interstate near Exit 95.[1] She recalled seeing the car in the same location when returning home that evening, but this time with the hood lifted, and no one visibly present.[1] She described one of the men as being around 6 feet 0 inches (1.83 m) tall with a thin build, blond hair in a bowl cut, and wearing a tank top and jean shorts that were too small for him.[1] The other man was described as having shoulder-length blond hair, and wearing a flannel shirt with jeans.[1] On June 30, 2017, law enforcement released a police sketch of the former man.[20]

Around 2:00 p.m. on May 20, three individuals called 9-1-1 to report a car matching Schiendelman's drifting across the lanes of Interstate 5 between Tumwater and Maytown, near the milepost where Schiendelman's car had been discovered.[1] The witnesses reported that the car veered across three lanes toward the center divider,[21] hitting the concrete barrier and stopping.[1] No one appeared to be driving the car.[1] A truck driver passing by reported seeing a caucasian man with brown or red hair jumping out of the vehicle's passenger side and running into the woods on the side of the interstate.[1]

Later in the evening of May 20, there was a potential sighting of a naked teenager in the area, though the identity of the individual is unknown; Thurston County Detective Frank Frawley stated: "We thought that might have been Logan... And so they did initiate a search using dogs. They didn't locate anything. Could've been Logan, could've been anybody."[5] The last clothing Schiendelman was known to be wearing included a black windbreaker, a white shirt, jeans, and possibly a pair of Nike tennis shoes.[2]
Click to expand...
Covington man charged for 1991 cold case murder of Federal Way girl | Kent Reporter Anyone notice the striking resemblance between the sketches in both of these cases? Or is just me?
 
After following hundreds of missing persons cases, I get a sense of what might have happened. In this case, it seems there has a been a lot of guesses that are rooted in very basic human response: why? As in, why would he just vanish? Drugs? Did someone do something?

But I think I know what's up here. In the show "Vanished," his grandmother mentions that he had been paranoid and was saying things about people watching him. These are signs of schizophrenia. And this reminds me very much of the case of Teleka Patrick. In fact, she was driving erratically when she got a flat tire and stopped along the highway in Indiana. She got out and walked and was found months later in a pond, where police believe she had drowned after falling through ice in a snow-covered area. A lot of the things he exhibited point toward this disease. Also, it's really common for searchers to walk right past or around a missing person's body. It happens a lot. As much as searchers do their best, it's just very difficult to cover a whole area. This is especially true when there are lots of trees, bushes, hills, mountains, etc.

However, in this case, it wasn't winter time. It was May. It seems the weather would have been okay. So I don't think that he would have died from exposure. But who knows. When someone is disoriented, you can't predict what might happen. There are certainly a lot of trees in the area where his car was found.
 
CluelessWonder said:
After following hundreds of missing persons cases, I get a sense of what might have happened. In this case, it seems there has a been a lot of guesses that are rooted in very basic human response: why? As in, why would he just vanish? Drugs? Did someone do something?

But I think I know what's up here. In the show "Vanished," his grandmother mentions that he had been paranoid and was saying things about people watching him. These are signs of schizophrenia. And this reminds me very much of the case of Teleka Patrick. In fact, she was driving erratically when she got a flat tire and stopped along the highway in Indiana. She got out and walked and was found months later in a pond, where police believe she had drowned after falling through ice in a snow-covered area. A lot of the things he exhibited point toward this disease. Also, it's really common for searchers to walk right past or around a missing person's body. It happens a lot. As much as searchers do their best, it's just very difficult to cover a whole area. This is especially true when there are lots of trees, bushes, hills, mountains, etc.

However, in this case, it wasn't winter time. It was May. It seems the weather would have been okay. So I don't think that he would have died from exposure. But who knows. When someone is disoriented, you can't predict what might happen. There are certainly a lot of trees in the area where his car was found.
Click to expand...

Schizophrenia or potential meth use seem like the most likely scenarios. IMO
 
It is stating the obvious to say that I can't figure this case out - we are all in the same boat! One question I have is about the woman who says she saw his car parked on the shoulder as she was on her way to work, and then it was in the same place after work, but this time with (supposedly) Logan and two other guys with the hood up. This makes no sense to me. Does the witness work a normal 8+ hour work day? Is she saying the car was there ALL day long? Isn't it kind of unlikely that a vehicle would be parked on the shoulder for this many hours, some of the time unaccompanied, without attracting the notice of the highway patrol? I just wonder about this whole "sighting," and whether it could be a red herring.

As for the other sighting, where someone jumped out of the car and then the car veered across traffic and stopped at the median divider - I really wonder how certain the witness was that the person she saw was white. I think it is highly likely that it was Logan. IF his car were being used in a drug operation and then was abandoned by the drug courier, as some have theorized - this is not the way drug dealers choose to abandon cars, by attracting the attention of hundreds of people by letting the car wander alone on I-5. It just doesn't make sense. Someone upthread mentioned Teleka Patrick, and it reminded me a bit of Col. Shue... just thinking out loud but there seems to be zero evidence that Logan was involved in any drugs heavier than pot, dealing, drug trafficking, or anything that would be at the level that he would be murdered by drug dealers and his car taken and abandoned on the highway...
 
Jbetty567 said:
It is stating the obvious to say that I can't figure this case out - we are all in the same boat! One question I have is about the woman who says she saw his car parked on the shoulder as she was on her way to work, and then it was in the same place after work, but this time with (supposedly) Logan and two other guys with the hood up. This makes no sense to me. Does the witness work a normal 8+ hour work day? Is she saying the car was there ALL day long? Isn't it kind of unlikely that a vehicle would be parked on the shoulder for this many hours, some of the time unaccompanied, without attracting the notice of the highway patrol? I just wonder about this whole "sighting," and whether it could be a red herring.

As for the other sighting, where someone jumped out of the car and then the car veered across traffic and stopped at the median divider - I really wonder how certain the witness was that the person she saw was white. I think it is highly likely that it was Logan. IF his car were being used in a drug operation and then was abandoned by the drug courier, as some have theorized - this is not the way drug dealers choose to abandon cars, by attracting the attention of hundreds of people by letting the car wander alone on I-5. It just doesn't make sense. Someone upthread mentioned Teleka Patrick, and it reminded me a bit of Col. Shue... just thinking out loud but there seems to be zero evidence that Logan was involved in any drugs heavier than pot, dealing, drug trafficking, or anything that would be at the level that he would be murdered by drug dealers and his car taken and abandoned on the highway...
Click to expand...
Having lived in different places, some places are quick to put a sticker on an abandoned car and tow it away. In other places I’ve lived, I’ve seen cars sit for days, in one case well over a week, with no notices put on them for towing as abandoned.
 
I haven't read all of the articles, but is there anything that says whether or not the car was in working order? If they were seen with the hood up, were they trying to fix an issue or was this some kind of ruse to get Logan to pull over, as we have seen many times with women in the past.
 
kelsie said:
Schizophrenia or potential meth use seem like the most likely scenarios. IMO
Click to expand...

I think these are the only two realistic possibilities. I would amend the latter to "drug use" and possibly being related to murder. My thoughts on this case are pretty simple and I will sum them up:

It really sticks out to me reading; he dropped out of college after a year, his grandmother said he had an "identity crisis", began smoking weed, he claimed to have some "epiphany", and he was very nervous on the day he went missing. None of that is particularly noteworthy by itself, but you have to look at it all in order and the totality of the circumstances. And when you look at it all together, it sounds like he started using harder drugs or maybe the marijuana induced his schizophrenia. I can personally tell you that marijuana today is not what it was 5 years, or 5 years before that, or 5 years before that, etc. It's a drug that can induce paranoia and undiagnosed mental health disorders. A big reason why I stopped smoking is because I would get paranoid while high and could not wait until it was over. Let me say I am certainly not one of those "anti-weed" people, but it is a drug that has consequences for many who use it, while it's fine for others. The same can be said for alcohol. Furthermore, reading that his car was drifting across the highway (but we are not sure if he was in it?) tells me Logan or maybe his "friends" were high while driving. The person seen running probably did that because they didn't want to get a DUI or possession charge if they had drugs on them/were high.

I personally think it's pretty clear he either had a mental health break and took off, leaving endless possibilities as to what happened to him. Or, he got caught up with the wrong crowd and started abusing harder drugs, which led to his killing. Another possibility is his drug use led him to take off similar to a mental health break. The whole paranoia/identity crisis + dropping out of college just seems too perfect of a fit here. I know many will say smoking weed is not noteworthy, which it isn't, but there are plenty of other factors here that make me think he got into something harder.
 
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