EARLY LIFE:
Logan Schiendelman was born on June 27, 1996. Living in Tumwater, Washington, he was a mixed-race child growing up in a primarily white town, along with his half-sister, Chloe.
When his mother, Hannah, was 23 years old, she asked Logan’s grandmother, Ginnie Gebo, if she could take over guardianship of her children while she attended art school in Seattle. Ginnie continued to take care of the children throughout their elementary and high school years while Hannah lived a few miles away in Olympia, where she remained a staple in her children’s lives.
Growing up, Logan would often listen to music and write poetry. He was described as being very charismatic, with the ability to light up a room with his jokes. In high school, he was very popular and had a lot of friends. However, while at home he was often quiet, showing his sensitive side.
Logan attended Tumwater High School, where he received good grades and was the defensive back on the school’s football team, having led them to the state championships. In 2014, he graduated, with plans to attend university in the fall.
Toward the end of school, Logan began to experience an identity crisis, after racial slurs were made to him at a party. This led him to start isolating himself and ignoring his friends’ texts and social media messages. He also decided to switch to Washington State University, where no one he knew was attending.
After his first year, Logan was still trying to figure out what he was going to do with his life, so he decided to return home and work odd jobs, one of which included helping out on his aunt and uncle’s farm.
LEAD UP TO DISAPPEARANCE:
The morning of May 19, 2016 saw Ginnie Gebo up at 7:30am to prepare for her job with the Washington State Department of Ecology. While in the kitchen, she ran into Logan, which was unusual, as he was never up that early.
The two got to talking and Logan informed his grandmother that he’d had an epiphany the night before and wanted to talk about it. However, given she needed to get to work, Ginnie told her grandson they’d talk about it when she got home that evening.
DISAPPEARANCE:
That evening, Ginnie returned home to find Logan and his car were missing. After a few hours, he still hadn’t returned, so she pinged his cellphone and saw it was in Olympia, just a few miles away from his mother’s house. Assuming he was spending the night there, she didn’t worry about her grandson’s absence.
A few days passed and Logan still hadn’t returned home. On May 22, 2016, Ginnie called Hannah, who told her she hadn’t seen her son in over a week. This worried Ginnie, who made several calls and drove around Tumwater in search of her grandson. When she couldn’t find him, she went to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office to report him missing. However, it was closed, so she returned the next day to officially file the police report.
SEARCH:
When filing the report, Ginnie informed police that Logan’s car, a 1996 Black Chrysler Sebring, was missing. His license plate was run through the system and it was found to have been impounded by the Washington State Patrol three days prior.
According the report, the car had been found abandoned on Interstate 5, between Maytown and Tumwater. When found, it had in it Logan’s license, wallet, debit card and bags of food from a nearby gas station. Ginnie found this unusual, so she informed detectives. However, they were unable to process the car due to the cross contamination it had experienced while impounded.
Also in the report was a note about three 911 calls that had been made about the car veering across the lanes of I-5, only to come to a stop once it hit the middle barrier. One call, in particular, claimed the car had first been parked on the shoulder and that a white man with brown or red hair had jumped out the passenger side and run into the woods along the freeway.
Police looked into the account, believing the mystery man had accidentally knocked the car back into gear, leading to its veering on I-5. They searched a two-mile radius, using tracking and cadaver dogs, but nothing was found. Heat-seeking aircraft was also used, but failed to locate any sign of Logan or the unknown man.
In the hopes of developing new leads, investigators approached those who knew Logan best, and Ginnie gave them permission to search his room, phone and computer. Through this, it was discovered that he’d largely kept to himself upon graduating high school, watching movies and listening to music. He also spent time talking to people online. However, he never met any of them in real life.
That month, police had received a bizarre call from a driver who had been driving parallel to I-5. They claimed to have seen a black male walking without any pants on. It had been learnt through Ginnie that Logan had recently started using marijuana. Given the location was near known crack houses, there was an early belief that, if the man was Logan, he could have overdosed or died by suicide. There has been no evidence found to prove this.
Investigators then traced Logan’s cellphone records to see its movements in the lead up to his disappearance. It was found that, on the day he disappeared, the phone had travelled southbound on I-5, then northbound, then southbound again before stopping where it was found. However, it’s unknown if Logan was the one driving the car or if someone else had been in possession of it.
On May 26, 2016, detectives started looking through Logan’s social media and found a check-in from the Olympia Regional Airport. This led some in the family to think he might have been trying to meet his father in Saudi Arabia, a fact he had recently learnt from his mother. Upon further investigation, it was discovered the check-in was a year old.
Early into the investigation, those within the Tumwater community helped raise a $10,000 reward for information about the case. They would sell bracelets and buttons during the high school’s football games. While this was happening, his family put up missing persons posters around town and set up a sign on I-5, near where Logan’s car had been found.
As the investigation drew on, police learnt Logan was troubled by his living situation at home. His sister’s boyfriend had recently moved in and there was friction between the two. It was also discovered that the boyfriend had previously pleaded guilty to felony assault during a previous relationship.
The boyfriend’s past intrigued investigators, who brought him in to take a polygraph test. He passed and is no longer considered a suspect.
Investigators also learnt Logan had recently come into contact with the African American side of his family. A year previous, he had had dinner with his aunt, Tina Crary, which was the first time he’d associated with anyone on that side of the family. When asked about the encounter, Tina said Logan had been scared to tell Ginnie of the meeting. Ginnie, on the other hand, says her grandson had told her about the dinner.
On June 26, 2017, Logan’s family launched a renewed effort to bring in leads, putting up posters and posting on social media. Their efforts paid off, as later in the month a woman called into police, saying she’d seen Logan’s car on the freeway the day he went missing.
According to the witness, two white men and a black man were standing at the rear of the car. One man was tall, with scraggly blonde hair. He was wearing a tank top and jeans, both of which were too small. The other man was also blonde and wore a flannel shirt and jeans. Unfortunately, a sketch was only able to made of the first man, as the caller was unable to get a good look at the second.
Police spread the sketch through the use of the media. While potential tips were called in, the identity of the mystery man remains unknown.
As of publishing, no new leads have surfaced in the case. While police do not have any evidence pointing to a crime having been committed, they also have none pointing to Logan still being alive, so they are continuing to ask anyone with information to call in tips.
Logan’s family has hired a private investigator, but little information is available.
THEORIES:
1) Some in Logan’s family believe he left of his own accord and has started a new life elsewhere. Given he was still figuring out what he wanted to do with his life and was coming to terms with having just met the other side of his family, it’s believed he might have left in order to gain some control over his own life.
2) Some believe Logan’s disappearance could be related to his drug use, with two main questions surrounding this theory: could he have gotten in trouble with local dealers or could he have possibly overdosed somewhere? While he is known to have smoked marijuana, his friends and those closest to him find it hard to believe he would have used harder drugs.
3) Another theory is that Logan could have had a mental breakdown. Given his recent paranoia – he started believing people were watching him through his bedroom window – and his epiphany, it’s believed his psychological struggles could have led him to run away or take his own life.
4) Logan’s uncle still believes Chloe’s boyfriend to have had some possible involvement in his nephew’s disappearance. As he has prior police training, he feels investigators are putting too much credence into the polygraph results, given the tests can produce false positives. Investigators still believe him not to be involved.
5) The final theory surrounds the involvement of foul play. Police are still unsure as to whether the two blonde men were involved or if they know something. They are also working other leads, including the possibility of a robbery gone wrong or an accidental death.
AFTERMATH:
During the investigation, Logan’s family made up “Logan rocks”, which were painted by volunteers and have been placed across the western United States and Canada. On them are details about Logan’s case and a link to the dedicated Facebook page.
Logan’s aunt has set up the Facebook page Logan Schiendelman Is Missing in hopes of bring in new leads and raising awareness about the case.
CASE CONTACT INFORMATION:
Logan Schiendelman went missing from Tumwater, Washington on May 19, 2016. He was 19 years old and was last seen wearing a black windbreaker, a white t-shirt, jeans and Nike sneakers. At the time of his disappearance, he was 6’0″ and approximately 150-190 pounds. He has black hair, which he routinely shaves, and brown eyes, with a scar on his forearm. He also has a severe peanut allergy and didn’t have his EpiPen with him at the time he disappeared.
Currently, his case is classified as endangered missing. If alive, he would be 22 years old.
If you have any information regarding the case, you can contact the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office at 360-786-5599.
Image Credit: K5 News
Stories of the Unsolved 
Just watched this story on Discovery.
How Awful not knowing where your child is.
The painted rocks are a beautiful idea …Bless his family that he may be located so they may have closure.