Case Details
NCOUC - Group 3
Missing or Unidentified Person
Jewel Paul Wheeler, an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, was 30 years old when he was reported missing from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Sources give differing dates for his last contact: NamUs and the Doe Network list January 1, 1973 (a placeholder date used when no specific date of last contact is documented), while the Bureau of Indian Affairs states he last had contact with the Pennington County Sheriff's Office on September 30, 1974. He was last known to be in the Calico Community area of the reservation. He is described as a man of White, Hispanic, and Native American heritage, 5 feet 11 inches tall and 131 pounds, with brown eyes; hair color is listed as brown by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and black by other sources. He has a tattoo reading "82nd Air Borne" on his left arm. His clothing and personal effects at the time he was last seen are not documented. He has not been heard from since.
The case is investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services Missing and Murdered Unit; it was previously handled through the Pennington County Sheriff's Office. Wheeler has been compared to, and excluded as a match for, an unidentified man (NamUs #UP114536) found in Medicine Mountain, South Dakota in 1978. The case remains open. It is documented under NamUs #MP115773 and Doe Network #6086DMSD. Tips can be submitted by texting BIAMMU to 847411, calling 1-833-560-2065, or emailing OJS_MMU@bia.gov.
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