Logan Drew Schiendelman, 19, of Tumwater, Washington, was last seen by his grandmother, Virginia "Ginny" Gebo, on the morning of May 19, 2016, as the two spoke briefly in their kitchen before leaving for work. Gebo later said Schiendelman appeared unusually nervous and told her he had experienced an "epiphany," without elaborating further. When he failed to return home, Gebo tracked his cell phone and found it had pinged near Olympia, and assumed he had gone to visit his mother, who lived there. On May 20, Schiendelman's black 1996 Chrysler Sebring was found abandoned in the median along southbound Interstate 5 near milepost 92, between Tumwater and Maytown, after witnesses reported seeing the car drift across multiple lanes and strike a barrier around 2:00 p.m.; a truck driver reported seeing a man run from the vehicle into nearby woods. Schiendelman's wallet — containing his driver's license, debit card, and $25 in cash — along with his cell phone and grocery bags, were found inside the unoccupied car. He was last known to be wearing a black windbreaker, a white shirt, jeans, and possibly Nike tennis shoes.
The vehicle had already been impounded and was released to the family before being processed by a crime lab, limiting potential forensic evidence. Witnesses reported seeing Schiendelman earlier that morning standing near the parked car with two unidentified Caucasian men; a police sketch of one man was released on June 30, 2017, but he has not been identified. Ground and air searches of the surrounding woods, including cadaver dogs, found no trace of Schiendelman. The boyfriend of Schiendelman's half-sister was questioned early in the investigation and was ruled out after passing a polygraph examination.
Agency Case # 16-2709
