Joe Pichler has been missing from Bremerton, Washington since January 3rd, 2006. The night Joe Pichler was last seen he was entertaining four friends at his apartment on 2000 Magnuson Way. At approx 2:30 am, he allegedly dropped his friend Kelly off at her house and then dropped his friend Justin off at an apartment Justin shared with Jesse at Jesse’s parents’ home. The other two friends, Kyle and Nicole, allegedly drove themselves home. At approx 4:08 am, Joe’s cell phone was used to call his friend Justin.
On January 4th, 2006 at approx 7:00 pm, Joe Pichler’s mother, Kathy Pichler, sent her son, AJ, to check on Joe. Joe’s apartment was unlocked and the lights were on. AJ waited for almost an hour then he turned off the lights and locked the door. On January 5th, 2006 at approx 8:00 am, Kathy Pichler went to the apartment on Magnuson Way herself. She immediately reported to the police her son was missing. She went to Discordia game, where Joe worked. They reported he did not show up for work the previous night. Kathy called AJ and asked his help with the search. AJ called Justin for help. Justin immediately came to the Pichler home. AJ said Justin took several turns and seemed to drive straight to Joe’s car which had been abandoned behind a restaurant at 2805 Wheaton Way.
When the police arrived, they found a poem among the belongings in Joe Pichler’s car. The police read the poem allowed and declared it was a suicide note. They immediately released the car to the family without any processing. Detective Davis told Kathy Pichler, Joe probably jumped from a nearby bridge and his body would float up in a few months. The police then went to Joe’s apartment where Joe’s sister, Shawna, walked with them through the apartment. Shawna reported the search was no more than 3 minutes. The police reported the apartment was fine.
This information was reported by almost every news source in America.
Now, the rest of the story…
Joe’s uncle drove Joe’s car to the Pichler home. When they got there, the family noticed vomit in the floorboard of the car on the passenger side. The family also noticed Magic The Gathering cards were strung out all over the car and the most valuable ones were all missing. They reported this to the Bremerton Police. This information as of 1/25/08 had still not reached the police report although the family told them about it many many times. The car set in the driveway for almost a year undriven. The vomit was never tested for DNA. Finally, the family gave up on the police and began to drive the car. When the Pichlers’ went to Joe’s apartment on 1/6/06, they found that it also had been robbed as well. Joe's remaining Magic The Gathering cards were thrown around over his bedroom closet. They reported this information to the police too. The information never made the police report and the apartment was never processed for blood or fingerprint evidence. The remaining cards were never tested for fingerprints or DNA as well.
The last place Joe was seen alive with Jesse’s parent home. Alledgedly Jesse admitted seeing Joe in the home, but his story changed several times on exactly how and when it happened. Jesse’s home was never checked by the Bremerton Police. Detective Davis stated many times in the newspapers that the Bremerton Police had done all they could do on this case.
In May 2006, five months after Joe’s car was found on 1/5/06, after the public reading of the poem, Justin announced it was not a suicide note. He and Joe had written “the poem” together. The Bremerton Police changed their conclusions on the case as missing endangered teen. The Bremerton Police had reported suicide to the FBI. At what point this was corrected is still not clear.
Several months after Joe disappeared, Joe’s ex-girlfriend, Cammie, came to visit Kathy Pichler. She accidently told Kathy that Cammie and another friend had gone to Joe’s car behind the restaurant to remove any items that might embarrass the family, but the police had already found it. Kathy asked Cammie how she knew where the car was and she wouldn’t respond. Cammie also admitted to having a 2nd set of keys to Joe’s car.
In June 2006, six months after Joe disappeared; the Bremerton Police Department took pictures of Joe’s car.
In December 2007, several independent investigators reviewed a MySpace account that Cammie created and which was not Joe’s but claimed to be Joe’s. All of the people last seen with Joe would send messages to it before and after Joe disappeared, but Joe didn’t send any messages. One of the messages was dated 1/3/06 at 7:03pm from Kelly to another friend claiming she was worried about going to Joe’s because the friends were planning something and they were being sketchy and weird. As of 1/25/08, Kelly has never been asked to explain this message.
As of 1/25/08, The Bremerton Police have never obtained a warrant to retrieve the private MySpace messages from the people last seen with Joe Pichler. They have never retrieved the cell phone records/messages/towers from the people last seen with Joe Pichler. The Bremerton Police told the Pichler family that if Joe hadn’t committed suicide then he was in the Witness Protection Program and they couldn’t talk about it.
In December 2007, the police still had only interviewed Justin. Cammie, Kyle, Nicole, Jesse, and Kelly all admitted seeing him on 1/3/006. They had not been interviewed and none of these people had been asked for polygraphs at this point.
An FBI agent in Washington DC stated that the FBI would help on missing person cases if it strongly looked like murder and the case was flagrantly mishandled. According to the FBI, flagrantly mishandled is when all the people last seen with a missing person are not interviewed and asked for polygraphs. All evidence in the case was not processed.
On January 3rd, 2008, the Bremerton Police announced they were given Joe Pichler’s case renewed vigor. Since that date they have re-interview Justin, tried to setup interviews with the other "friends", which have been repeatedly rescheduled by some of the "friends" or the police have not scheduled an interview at all. On January 25th, 2008, the Bremerton Police brought the Pichler family into the police station to talk about the case. They tried to convince the family there was no vomit in the car. The Bremerton Police also tried to convince the family the pictures the police took in June 2006 were actually taken on 1/5/06.
The Bremeton police told the Pichlers the cell phone records were all gone. But Cingular, Sprint, Quest, and Verizon say they keep cell phone records for 5 years minimum.
The Bremerton police told the Pichlers there wasn't probable cause to get the cell phone records of the friends.
Here is probable cause...
1) When Kathy Pichler said Cammie told her, that Cammie knew where the abandoned car was before the family and the police did. She went to the car to try to remove embarrassing things to the family from it. It was already a crime scene and to remove evidence would be against the law so how did Cammie know where the abandoned car was of a missing person? Where was she when Joe disappeared? To verify where Cammie was on 1/4 and who she talked to is probable cause to get her cell phone records. She said 'we' went to the scene. This would mean she had a partner and it would be probable cause of the same reason for her partner's records as well.
2) When Kelly admitted to Leesh on 1/3/06 at 7:03pm on MySpace that she was worried about going to Joe's that the friends were planning something and being sketchy and weird. Kellys admission that there was a plan that made her nervous amongst the people who were last seen with a missing person. To verify where these friends were during the timeframe of the disappearance is probable cause as well. And it's grounds to get every one of the friends cell phone records, because Kelly wasn't specific to one friend. She said 'people".
Please we want the police to process the evidence on this case.