OK OK - Stephen Adams, 26, NSU student, Tahlequah, 13 Dec 2004

Authorities Asking For Help In Finding Missing Man In The Tahlequah Area

December 16 2004

The search continues for a missing man from Tahlequah. THE Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and Tahlequah investigators say Stephen Adams has been missing since Monday.

Adams called his girlfriend from his cellular telephone and told her he was giving a man a ride to the Keys area. That was the last time anyone has heard from him. Investigators fear foul play may be to blame for the disappearance of Stephen Adams.

Adams drives a white, 1995 GMC pickup with Oklahoma tag number SCQ-714.

If you've seen him or know where he is call the OSBI at 1-800-522-8017.

Link with photo:

http://www.kotv.com/main/home/stories.asp?whichpage=1&id=74398

NSU student reported missing

By Elizabeth Ridenour
Phoenix Staff Writer
Posted December 16, 2004

Authorities and family Thursday asked for the public’s help to find a Northeastern State University student missing since Monday.
Stephen M. Adams, 26, a former Webbers Falls resident, was last heard from about 11 a.m. Monday when he called his girlfriend from his cellular telephone. He told her he was giving a male subject a ride to the Keys area. That subject’s identity is unknown. Keys is south of Tahlequah.

“We don’t know if it was someone from the school, a convenience store or somewhere else,” said Adams’ cousin Tiffani Haney, 24, of Sallisaw.
Adams’ mother, Denie Adams of Webbers Falls, suffered a stroke while searching for her son Tuesday, Haney said.

Adams has not been seen or heard from since about 10:45 a.m. Monday after he had completed a final at NSU, Haney said. The vehicle he was driving has not turned up, either.
“Another cousin who lives with him tried to call and just got voice mail,” Haney said.

Adams did not report to work at 5 p.m. on Monday at El Chico in Muskogee, nor did he take his final tests at NSU on Wednesday. It’s out of character for Adams not to call work if he’s not going to be there, Haney said.
He also has a medical condition that requires medication.
“He has asthma. It’s very bad, and it has flared up a lot lately,” Haney said. “Both of his inhalers are at the house.”

Haney is concerned about Adams’ mother as well.
“After dropping someone off, he said he was going to her house in Webbers Falls and never made it,” Haney said.
So Haney said she and Denie Adams left Webbers Falls and headed down Indian Road toward Tahlequah. When they got to the stoplight in Keys, they decided to stop because Denie Adams was complaining about numbness in her hand.
“She couldn’t get out. She had a stroke. Her left side is completely paralyzed. She is in ICU (intensive care unit) at Saint Francis (Hospital in Tulsa),” Haney said.

The Tahlequah Police Department and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation are investigating Stephen Adams’ disappearance. Officials in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, New Mexico and Texas have been notified that Adams, whose name has been entered in the National Criminal Information Center, is missing.

Haney said she hopes to hear from someone about her cousin, possibly from the person to whom he gave a ride.
“At least that will give us a point to begin looking,” she said.

http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/news/updates/10504.html

Family Searches For Missing Man
By Monica Keen, Staff Writer

Friday, December 17, 2004

All a Webbers Falls mother wants for Christmas is to find her missing son.

Steven Adams, originally of Webbers Falls, was last seen Monday morning after taking a final exam at Northeastern State University (NSU) in Tahlequah, where he is a student. The family is asking the public for help in finding Adams, and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) has joined in the search.

Adams' cousin, Tiffany Haney of Sallisaw, said a professor confirmed that Adams finished the final exam at 10:45 a.m. Monday. Haney said Adams' girlfriend called him at 11:07 a.m., and he told her he was giving someone a ride to Keys south of Tahlequah. Adams' girlfriend told family members that he sounded fine and she heard the voice of another male in the truck.

Haney said Adams, 26, was supposed to be headed to his mother's house in Webbers Falls, but he never reached her home. Adams also failed to show up for work at El Chico Restaurant in Tahlequah.

"That's not like him at all," Haney said.

Friends and family have searched Indian Road south of Tahlequah, believing he would have taken that road from Keys. Haney said they don't know if he even made it to Keys and they don't know to whom he was giving a ride.

Haney and Adams' mother, Denie Adams, were on their way to look for him Tuesday when Denie had a stroke. She is now in intensive care at St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa and is listed in stable condition, but her left side is completely paralyzed.

"The only thing she wants it to find her son," Haney said.

Adams was driving a white 1995 GMC Sierra single-cab short bed truck with chrome bedrails with Oklahoma license plate SCQ 714. Haney said Adams is 5 feet, 7 inches tall, weighs about 200 pounds, and has brown hair and brown eyes.

Haney said there have been no transactions conducted on Adams' checking account, and he didn't have any money on him and very little gas.

Haney said Adams also missed the rest of his final exams. Family and police don't know if Adams had an accident or if someone abducted him.

"Right now we have no leads at all," Haney said.

Haney said their family is very close, and Adams lived with another cousin in an apartment in Tahlequah. That same cousin tried calling Adams at 11:30 a.m. Monday, but Adams' phone only rang once and went to voicemail. After that, all calls went straight to voicemail.

According to the OSBI's Web site, Adams disappearance is considered "suspicious."

Anyone with any information about Adams' whereabouts should call the Tahlequah Police Department at (918) 456-8801 or OSBI at (800) 522-8017, or locally at the Sequoyah County Sheriff's Office at (918) 775-1213.

http://www.sequoyahcountytimes.com/articles/2004/12/17/news/3missingman.txt

Police looking for man in connection with missing NSU student

By Bob Gibbins, Press Staff Writer
Thursday, December 23, 2004

Investigators believe a man who was parked outside a local business last week may have information concerning the disappearance of a Tahlequah man.

Dick Frye, a private investigator reportedly hired by Stephen M. Adams' family, said Tuesday foul play is suspected in Adams' disappearance. Frye said a tip they received Monday night led them to send an Oklahoma Highway Patrol dive team to Kerr Lake near Sallisaw, but nothing was found.

Frye also said he has learned that Adams was involved in a custody battle in Muskogee County.

Authorities said they would like to speak to the man concerning Adams, 26. Adams was last seen Dec. 13 and told his girlfriend he was taking a man to the Keys area.

Extensive interviews with Adams' neighbors and others working in the area have agents believing a man parked in the Dollar General Store parking lot on East Downing may have information that would aid them in their investigation.

The man is white with a thin build. He is 40-50 years old and has brown hair and a mustache. He was driving an older model dark colored or black Ford Ranger pickup with a silver toolbox in the back.

Adams took a final examination at NSU on Dec. 13, but failed to return for the remainder of his tests and has not been at work. Adams has health problems that require medication.

Adams was driving a white 1995 GMC pickup with chrome bed rails. The tag on the truck is SCQ 714.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation is offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to the whereabouts of Adams.

Anyone with information concerning the potential witness is asked to contact the Tahlequah Police Department at 456-8801 or the OSBI at 1-800-522-8017.

http://www.tahlequahdailypress.com/articles/2004/12/23/news/top_stories/aamissing.txt

Caller threatens missing student's family

By Donna Hales
Phoenix Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 4, 2005

The family of missing 26-year-old Northeastern State University student Stephen Adams received a phone threat that they would be hurt if the investigation did not cease, officials said Monday.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said in a Monday media release that the investigation is conducted by law enforcement agencies, not the family. The direction of this missing person's investigation is controlled by law enforcement, the release said.

Adams' family reported him missing on Dec. 13. He took a final exam at NSU and then talked with his girlfriend on his cell phone at 11:07 a.m., telling her he was taking a person to Keys. She said she heard a male's voice. At 11:30 a.m., another relative called Adams on his cell phone and it went to voice mail.

Adams and his vehicle have not been seen since the morning of Dec. 13, according to a private investigation team working for the family.

"Even though police have received many leads as to the identity of a man sitting in his dark colored Ford Ranger pickup truck outside the Dollar General next to Adams' apartment the day of his disappearance, we still have not located this person," the OSBI stated. "Investigators believe he could be a key to this case."

The man is identified as a white male between 40 and 50 years old, medium build with brown hair and a mustache.

http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/news/stories/20050104/localnews/1824343.html

What's the status on this case. Was Stephen Adams or the man in the Ford Ranger ever located?

bump...what is the status of this case?

December 28, 2005

Carl Adams of the Webbers Falls area pulls out a framed photograph of himself with his three sons, Bradley, Chris and Steven, when they were children. Steven is the youngest of the three and is about two or three years old in the photograph. He has a head-full of blonde curls and a wide grin on his face.

"He was pretty much happy like this all the time," Carl said, lost in thought for a moment, staring at the photo.

He puts the photo away, but Carl Adams doesn't forget Steven. Carl doesn't forget that this is another holiday without his youngest son. He doesn't forget about the past year he has spent combing the area searching for Steven, who disappeared at the age of 26 on Dec. 13, 2004, after taking a college exam at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah. Steven was originally from Webbers Falls, but was living in Tahlequah when he disappeared.

"He totally disappeared off the face of the earth," Carl said.

Continued:

http://www.sequoyahcountytimes.com/articles/2005/12/28/news/fronta.txt

To me, this case sounds like it is totally without hope. So often when men disappear it seems there is reason to hope for the best - and there is evidence to believe they've run off and started a new life for some reason.

Very sad - prayers for his father, who is so devoted to finding him.

Family of student missing 4 years desperate for answers

DECEMBER 2008

Four years ago today was the last time anyone saw Stephen Adams.

Adams, who would now be 29, called a girlfriend at 11:07 a.m., and said he was driving someone to the Keys area. It’s the last conversation anyone has reported having with the Northeastern State University student. Relatives say it’s like he dropped off the face of the earth that day.

“I can’t believe he’s just gone — just disappeared — just vanished off the face of the earth,” his mother, Denie Hayes said Friday.

The family has suspicions about their loved one’s death but no evidence, nothing to really to go on, Hayes said.

“I’m at peace with myself — Carl is not,” she said, referring to her ex-husband, Stephen’s father. “He needs an end, he needs closure. It’s killing him and making him an old man.”

She said family members know Stephen is with the Lord.

“And that’s the only peace we have,” she said.

Carl Adams said he grieves every day for his missing son. He’s the last thing he thinks of at night. He’s resigned that he is dead — but he wants him buried next to his grandfather in Field’s Cemetery on Ross Road, among relatives and loved ones.

“I want him buried with dignity. I’ve never got to mourn him because I’ve been so busy looking for him,” Carl Adams said.

More: http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/local/local_story_348004607.html

AuntieKaren said:

This could be quite telling! Maybe someone wanted to bump him off so the mother could have full custody? Sounds crazy but, in today's world...
Karen

Click to expand...

Shortly after his disappearance, Adams’ family hired a private investigator who told reporters that he believed Adams disappeared because of foul play.

“There was an organized effort to remove Stephen Adams,” Dick Frye of the Buena Vista Agency in Oklahoma City said. “We do suspect foul play is involved.”

Police said Adams was involved in an ongoing custody dispute with his ex-wife Alesha Sizemore and that he was seeking to change visitation rights in court because of limited visitation rights to his daughter.

Adams had twice been charged with lewd molestation involving his child, only to have both counts dropped.

“He was on supervised visitation. I think they were fighting to lift that so he didn’t have supervised visitation,” Stephen Farmer of the TPD said in 2005.

Farmer said Adams missed a custody hearing because of his disappearance, but that the TPD couldn’t say if there was a connection between his disappearance and the custody battle.

http://www.cherokeephoenix.org/3230/Article.aspx

http://www.cherokeephoenix.org/3230/Article.aspx
http://www.cherokeephoenix.org/25429/Article.aspx

Early on in the investigation, authorities were looking for a man in connection with Adams’ disappearance. He was described as white, standing 5-feet, 11-inches tall and weighing 190 pounds. He had collar-length, salt-and-pepper hair and a mustache and may have been wearing a beard or goatee. He was driving a black 2000 Ford Ranger pickup with a chrome toolbox on the back. The man was seen sitting in the Ford Ranger pickup truck outside the Tahlequah Dollar General store next to Adams’ apartment.

Here is a sketch of the POI.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/a/adams_stephan.html

http://tahlequahdailypress.com/local/x357286998/Petition-filed-to-empanel-grand-jury

July 5, 2011

Petition filed to empanel grand jury

By BOB GIBBINS Staff Writer

The document also indicates Adams gave a ride to a man identified as Ronnie Meachling. It also states a witness saw Adams being beaten. Adams was involved in a custody battle at the time of his disappearance.

The petition alleges all investigative and prosecutorial agencies involved in the investigation have refused to allow Adams’ family to see any of the investigative files, statements or evidence gathered in the investigation.

Click to expand...

http://www.cherokeephoenix.org/Article/Index/5042

Father seeks grand jury

By BOB GIBBINS
CNHI

The petition alleges all investigative and prosecutorial agencies involved in the investigation have refused to allow Adams’ family to see any of the investigative files, statements or evidence gathered in the investigation.

The petition seeks the disqualification of the local district attorney’s office from serving as legal advisers for the grand jury.

Click to expand...

Some good news/progress in this case, posted today by the newspaper in Tahlequah, OK:

Grand jury to reconvene - Tahlequah Daily Press

Snip from the article:

A grand jury looking into the disappearance and possible death of a Northeastern State University student is set to reconvene Tuesday.

Members of the grand jury, according to First Assistant District Attorney Jack Thorp, have been on recess since November, which provided a chance for additional investigation into in the disappearance of Stephen Adams.

...

Thorp has said more than 50 people have testified for the investigation by the grand jury, and subpoenaed witnesses are set to appear Tuesday morning.

Click to expand...

Grand jury issues report on disappearance of Stephen Adams

A Cherokee County grand jury has completed an investigation into the 2004 disappearance of a Northeastern State University student.

[snip]

According to a report released Tuesday, the grand jury believes Adams was the victim of a homicide and that his body is located somewhere in eastern Oklahoma.

Members of the grand jury believe "certain individuals" had a motive to murder Adams, but the jury was unable to uncover a suspect or suspects during their investigation nor did they uncover the location of his body.

I really hope they solve this. From my research, it seems rather obvious on the group that might be responsible for him gone missing... Oklahoma has WAY too many missing people. OSBI needs to kick it in high gear on these.

I have a theory in this case. I think that which happens most often is more likely. In Adams case I think he left the keys area and was driving to webbers falls to see his mother. That is a very curvy road with deep ravines. I believe because of his young age he was traveling at an unsafe speed and ran off the road. I think the reason they cannot find him is that they are looking for a white truck, when the reality is, you would only see the undercarriage of the truck which would be very hard to see in a wood area. There is also place along that road where he could have ran off the road and landed in water. The road splits before it gets to webbers falls and I don't know which road he would have taken as I have never driven that far. I don't think he met with foul play. I think he was driving to fast and ran off the road.

ramonab said:

I have a theory in this case. I think that which happens most often is more likely. In Adams case I think he left the keys area and was driving to webbers falls to see his mother. That is a very curvy road with deep ravines. I believe because of his young age he was traveling at an unsafe speed and ran off the road. I think the reason they cannot find him is that they are looking for a white truck, when the reality is, you would only see the undercarriage of the truck which would be very hard to see in a wood area. There is also place along that road where he could have ran off the road and landed in water. The road splits before it gets to webbers falls and I don't know which road he would have taken as I have never driven that far. I don't think he met with foul play. I think he was driving to fast and ran off the road.

Click to expand...

IMO, foul play reeks in this case. What road are you referring to? On Google Maps, it looks like "Indian Road" connects Webber Falls with Keys. What ravine are you thinking?

There are so many down Indian Road, it would be impossible to search unless you had a plane and helicopter and went in the winter time when all the leaves and underbrush are gone. It is getting near hunting season, so who knows.