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On a Friday afternoon in May of twenty sixteen, drivers
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traveling southbound on Interstate five near Tumwater, Washington saw something unbelievable.
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A black convertible was drifting slowly across three lanes of
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the freeway with no visible person behind the wheel. Some
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cars sped up, while others swerved to avoid it before
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it struck the concrete median and finally came to a stop.
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A truck driver traveling in the opposite direction reported seeing
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a man near the car while it sat on the shoulder.
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The man then ran off into the woods beside the
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freeway as the car rolled into traffic. However, the description
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of the man who ran off didn't match the description
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of the young man who left home driving that car.
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So who was this? Why did they abandon a car
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on the freeway like that? And where was the young
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man who should have been driving that car? More than
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ten years later, the nineteen year old who left home
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in that car has never been found, and no one
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has been able to explain what exactly happened on that freeway.
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I'm John Lorden, and this is the seriously mysterious disappearance
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of Logan Shindleman. Logan Drew Shindelman was born on June
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twenty seventh, nineteen ninety six, and grew up in Tumwater,
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Washington State, roughly sixty miles south of Seattle, with his
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older half sister, Chloe. Their maternal grandmother, Jinny Geebo, had
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become their legal guardian. However, their mother, Hannah, also remained
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part of their lives. Logan's biological father returned to his
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native Saudi Arabia before he was born, and Logan grew
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up without ever meeting him. Friends and relatives described Logan
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as smart, funny, polite, and easy to like. He earned
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good grades and played defensive back for the Tumwater High
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School football team. He was strong and always willing to help,
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regularly doing chores like mowing fields and cleaning the barns
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on his great aunt nuncles farm. Although Logan was popular
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and enjoyed joking around with his friends, his family remembers
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a quieter, more sensitive side. He listened to music, wrote poetry,
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and he loved movies. His great aunt Mary Ware told Dateline,
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I don't know anybody that did not like Logan. Near
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the end of high school, Logan began grappling more seriously.
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With questions about his identity and where he belonged. One
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incident in particular appears to have marked a turning point.
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At a party, a young woman made racist remarks toward Logan.
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Tumwater is a predominantly white community, and Logan has black, white,
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and Saudi heritage. According to his white grandmother, Jinny, it
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wasn't only the racist remark that it hurt Logan. His
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friends had also heard those comments, and none of them
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stepped up or defended him. He came away believing that
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the people he once trusted weren't really there for him.
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He distanced himself from them and even changed his college plans,
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choosing Washington State University more than five hours away, rather
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than attending college alongside his old friends. Shortly before leaving
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for college, he met some of his black relatives for
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the first time. His great aunt, Tina Roberts Quarrie, showed
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him family photos and recalled Logan, saying, it feels so
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good to see someone that looks like me. They stayed
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in contact through Facebook while he was at school. When
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he got to WSU, Logan made new friends and threw
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himself into its thriving social scene, but along the way
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he stopped attending classes regularly, and he stopped completing his work.
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After his freshman year, he wasn't allowed to return. He
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moved back into Jenny's house, worked a series of jobs,
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and tried to figure out what came next. While Logan
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was away at school, his sister, Chloe's boyfriend had also
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moved into Ginny's and his children sometimes stayed over. Logan
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later told his great aunt Mary that the children weren't
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an issue, but that Chloe's boyfriend was the problem, although
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he never explained what he meant by that. His other
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great aunt, Tina, said that after he came home from college,
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Logan stopped responding to her messages altogether. Jinny was also
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noticing a change. She would later tell police that Logan
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had been battling depression for about two years and that
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his behavior had changed dramatically over the previous six to
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eight months. She also said that he was observed talking
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to himself, but he refused to see a psychologist. On Wednesday,
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May eighteenth, twenty sixteen, Logan made several statements that no
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no one understood. He told Ginny he'd experienced an epiphany
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about who he was, but when she asked what he meant,
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he replied, I can't really explain it. The incident report says.
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Ginny also told police that Logan had said that he
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was not going to make it. Jinny described Logan as
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really nervous and kind of on a mission, and he
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told her that he might be gone for the weekend.
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She suggested they continue the conversation when she got home
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from work, but that was the last time that they spoke.
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That same day, Logan messaged a young woman that he
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had met on a dating app, writing, I hope to
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survive this week. When she asked what he meant, he
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didn't answer. When you take it to consideration the way
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Logan had been pulling away from people close to him,
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and specifically the changes that Ginny described, it certainly sounds
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like Logan may have been facing a mental health crisis.
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Of course, he could have also been facing some other
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threat as well, But whatever Logan and meant by these statements,
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he disappeared before he could explain any of it. According
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to an initial incident report, at around six o'clock on Thursday,
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May nineteenth, Logan left home wearing jeans and a black windbreaker.
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He was driving the family's black Chrysler Seabring convertible. When
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Logan didn't return home that day, Jinny wasn't immediately alarmed.
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He had said that he might be gone for the weekend,
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and a location service connected to his phone appeared to
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place it near his mother, Hannah's home in Olympia, about
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four miles north of Tomwater. Ginny assumed that he might
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be there visiting her, but strangely, Hannah would state that
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she had not seen him on that day. Interstate five
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runs directly through Tomwater, carrying traffic south toward Portland, Oregon,
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or north towards Seattle. On the afternoon of Friday, May twentieth,
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the day after Logan had left home, three motorists on
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I five called nine one one about the Seabring. The
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car appeared to have no driver and was slowly moving
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across the southbound side of the freeway. One of those
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three witnesses, a truck driver traveling in the opposite direction,
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said that he saw someone at or inside the passenger
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side while the Seabring was on the shoulder of the
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southbound lanes. He said that the person ran into the
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woods along the freeway, and moments later the car moved
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from the shoulder and crossed three lanes before striking the
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concrete median near milepost ninety two and finally coming to
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a stop. The account doesn't establish exactly where the person
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had been or whether the truck driver clearly saw him
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climb out. Older reports described someone jumping from the passenger side,
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while a later case file review said that only a
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person was seen at or inside the passenger side of
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the seabring moments before it moved. The truck driver saw
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the scene for only a few seconds from the opposite
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side of a divided freeway, so the details are obviously
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difficult to assess. Reports also described grocery bags inside the
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seabring as being undisturbed, but accounts conflict over exactly where
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they were positioned. Some of the older reports described a tall, thin,
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white man with brown or reddish hair. When shown Logan's photograph,
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the truck driver said Logan was not the man that
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he had seen. If he was correct, someone else was
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with the car, and someone else ran off into the woods.
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Left inside the car were Logan's phone, wallet, identification, and
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debit card, along with a small amount of cash. Food
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and water were also found inside, and a blanket, clothing
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and DBDs were packed in the trunk. It looked as
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though Logan had prepared for a short trip then somehow
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left behind nearly everything he would need to communicate, identify
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by himself, or pay for anything. There was no obvious
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blood or signs of a struggle. Because police didn't know
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that Logan was missing. At this point, the Seabring was
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treated as an abandoned vehicle. It sat in a tow
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lot for three days before being released to Ginny and
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her husband Bill. By the time detectives examined it, troopers,
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towyard employees, and family members had all handled the car,
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making forensics challenging to say the least. Bill also noticed
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damage to one seat that he believed was new. The
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Seabring wasn't dusted for fingerprints until roughly six days after
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the freeway incident. Investigators recovered no prints, saying the car
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was dirty and had few smooth surfaces. At about one
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oh five am on Saturday May twenty first, about ten
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hours after the car crossed I five, another caller reported
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a man without pants walking near the same general stretch
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of freeway in Woods. Detective Frank Frawley later said investigators
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considered whether the the man might have been Logan and
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initiated a search using dogs, but they found nothing. As
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he put it, could have been Logan, could have been anybody.
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Over the weekend, Jenny called the Sheriff's office, but the
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public office was closed. She and Bill drove around Olympia,
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especially near the area where Logan's phone tracking had appeared,
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unaware that the car was already sitting in a toe lot.
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On Monday, May twenty third, Jenny went to the Sheriff's
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office and formally reported Logan missing. A record's check then
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revealed that Washington State Patrol had impounded the seabring three
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days earlier. Once the car was connected to Logan's disappearance.
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Six K nine teams, including tracking and cadaver dogs, searched
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the woods in brush around mile post ninety two, while
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a helicopter equipped with thermal imaging scanned the area from above.
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They found no trace of Logan or the man that
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had run from the car. Investigators later discovered that before
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the freeway in incident, Logan's phone had made an unexplained
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journey of roughly one hundred miles south from Olympia to Vancouver. Washington.
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Detective Frawley said It then traveled back north toward the
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Olympia area before turning south again and ending up about
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ten miles south of Tumwater. Because the phone was found
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inside the car, investigators believed the Sea Bring had made
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that journey with it, but the records couldn't establish whether
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Logan was inside, who was driving, or whether anyone else
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was with him. The route itself is difficult to explain.
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What was the purpose of the trip to Vancouver and
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why return almost all the way to the Olympia area
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only to reverse direction and have the Sea Bring end
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up so close to where Logan lived. Vancouver, Washington, not
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to be confused with Vancouver, Canada, sits directly across the
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Columbia River from Portland, Oregon, and happens to be where
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the young woman Logan had connected with through that dating
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app lived. She was the person who received the I
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hope to survive this week message. When investigators contacted her,
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she said that she and Logan had never met in person,
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and nothing was found connecting her to Logan's disappearance. Investigators
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checked hospitals and contacted law enforcement in every county where
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the phone connected to a tower, but found no confirmed sightings.
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They also examined Logan's computer, but if anything important was found,
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it has not been shared with the public. More than
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a year later, another witness came forward. She said that
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on the morning of May twentieth, twenty sixteen, she passed
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the seabring on the shoulder of southbound I five near
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exit ninety five, and she saw three men beside it,
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two white men and a third man that she believed
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was Logan. One man was described as very thin and
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about six feet tall, with straight blonde hair in a
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bowl cut. The other had shoulder length blonde hair. She
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said that she later saw the sea bring again with
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a hood raised, but reports don't give the exact time
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of this second sighting. Exit ninety five is roughly three
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miles north of mile post ninety two. Also worth mentioning
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she had never met Logan and she only saw that
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scene briefly. She also waited about thirteen months to report it,
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but investigators worked the lead, releasing a composite sketch of
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the man with the bowl cut. Neither of the two
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men have ever been identified, and we have no confirmation
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that the third man was indeed Logan. Even as the
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investigation slowed, Logan's family and supporters kept searching. Volunteers distributed posters,
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A private investigator examined the case, and his great uncle,
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Mike ware, a retired Thurston County Sheriff's lieutenant, repeatedly searched
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the freeway area himself. In June of twenty twenty five,
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the Thurston County Sheriff's Office Cold Case Unit renewed its appeal.
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In May of twenty twenty six, family, friends, teachers, and
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other community members gathered for a vigil in Olympia to
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mark ten years since Logan disappeared. What makes this case
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so bizarre is that every theory explains one part but
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creates another question. In a twenty seventeen interview, Detective Frawley
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said that he had no reason to believe Logan had
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been killed, but also no reason to believe he was alive.
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Investigators haven't identified a leading explanation, and Logan's relatives have
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reached different conclusions themselves. Is this a mental health crisis
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or was Logan somehow involved in a dangerous situation? It
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becomes a game of where does each theory fit and
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where does it fall apart? A psychological crisis is a
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serious possibility. Jinny told police that Logan had struggled with
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depression and that his behavior had changed dramatically over the
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previous six to eight months, pulling away from people, talking
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to himself, making comments about an epiphany, saying he was
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not going to make it, and writing I hope to
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survive this week. Could all support that theory. Of course,
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they could also point to a true physically dangerous situation.
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What was Logan's business with these two other men? Well,
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if that sighting's accurate, if the man scene without pants
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was Logan, that could fit a mental distress situation, but
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that sighting was also never confirmed. Jinny herself would later
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say that she did not think Logan was in crisis,
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while Tina said that she believed he was indeed depressed,
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but didn't think that he would harm himself. Even if
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Logan was experiencing some kind of mental health break, though,
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that wouldn't explain the truck driver that said the man
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scene running from the sea bring wasn't Logan. Foul play
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becomes much harder to dismiss with that information, How when
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and why did Logan become separated from his car? Is
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this one of the two blond men seen by the
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other witness, had Logan picked them up or had they
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already been traveling with him. A random carjacking seems less
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likely because Logan's belongings and the car itself were abandoned,
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but there was no obvious sign of a struggle. The
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phone's route creates even more questions. Was Logan separated from
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the car before or after that first trip south? If so,
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why did someone bring it back towards Olympia and Tumwater.
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Perhaps Logan was involved in a dangerous situation that his
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family knew nothing about. But there is another possibility. Could
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Logan have chosen to leave. He left behind his phone, wallet, identification,
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debit card, a small amount of cash, and of course,
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the car itself. His last known bank activity was cashing
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a six hundred dollars check on May fifth, and investigators
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found no later financial activity. His family has also said
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that he didn't have the EpiPen he needed for a
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severe peanut allergy. No sighting has ever been confirmed as
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being Logan. Could he really have pulled off disappearing completely?
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His great uncle Mike would tell Dateline, there's just no
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question in my mind that he would not disappear on
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his own without letting somebody know. But sometimes reality isn't
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as simple as a single answer. Maybe a combined explanation
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is at play here. Logan could have chosen to leave
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while facing mental distress, making him more vulnerable to manipulation
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or danger. His state of mind could have shaped where
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he went or how he reacted. Some relatives suspected that
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Chloe's boyfriend might have some involvement because Logan called him
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the problem. The case file also noted inconsistencies in the
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boyfriend's accounts, but investigators interviewed him several times, said he
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passed a polygraph, and ultimately ruled him out. Detective Frawley
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said investigators also considered whether drugs played a role, but
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Ginny knew only of Logan's marijuana use, and there's no
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evidence that he used harder drugs, owed money, or was
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involved in crime in any way. Of course, I imagine
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that many people hold onto that consideration, especially with the
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strange travel noted from Logan's phone. Ten years later, were
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left with the bizarre image of a black convertible drifting
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across the freeway with no one behind the wheel, and
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the painful question of what happened to Logan. Shindelman his
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ominous statements, the phone's unexplained journey. These clues appear to
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lead somewhere, but none has led to Logan, at least
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not yet. The Tumwater High School football program that Logan
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played for lived by a creed. Never give up, Never,
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never give up. Do you know anything that could help
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find Logan? Logan Drew Shindelman was nineteen when he disappeared
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from Tumwater, Washington, on May nineteenth, twenty sixteen. He would
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now be thirty. At the time of his disappearance. Washington
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State Patrol described Logan as approximately five feet eleven inches
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tall and one hundred and fifty pounds, with brown eyes
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and black hair. He also has a small scar on
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his left forearm below the elbow. Please contact the Thurston
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County Sheriff's Office at three six zero seven eight six
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five five zero zero. You can also contact the Washington
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State Patrol Missing Persons Unit at one eight hundred five
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four three five six seven eight. A reward is available
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for information leading to Logan's recovery. Do you have any
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insights or a case you'd like to suggest, Feel free
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to send it to me. You'll find a comment form
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00:19:43.759 --> 00:19:47.720
and case submission link at Lordenarts dot com. Thank you
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to Dateline and NBC News, the Thurston County Sheriff's Office,
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00:19:51.799 --> 00:19:56.079
Washington State Patrol, NamUs, The Olympian, True Crime News, Fox thirteen,
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00:19:56.160 --> 00:20:00.759
Seattle King Five, Trace Evidence, the Charlie Project, Stories Be Unsolved,
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00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:04.319
the Facebook group Logan Shindleman is Missing, and ELI Sports
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Network for information contributing to today's case. This episode was
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written by Kira McQueen, edited by John Lorden, and produced
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by lord Arts. You can help Kira's work on missing
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00:20:14.599 --> 00:20:18.599
persons cases in the Washington area on Instagram by following
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00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:23.920
her at Missing NWA and sharing her posts. Thank you
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00:20:24.039 --> 00:20:26.160
to our lord and Art supporters. If you'd like to
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00:20:26.160 --> 00:20:28.720
become one, please visit lordenarts dot com, where you can
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00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:31.799
sign up for Patreon, sign up for PayPal, by merchandise,
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00:20:32.039 --> 00:20:34.680
or even just buy us at coffee. But most of all,
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thank you for sharing this time with me today. I'm
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00:20:37.960 --> 00:20:40.799
John Lorden. Please join me again next week for another
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story I know you'll find seriously mysterious
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On a Friday afternoon in May of twenty sixteen, drivers
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traveling southbound on Interstate five near Tumwater, Washington saw something unbelievable.
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A black convertible was drifting slowly across three lanes of
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the freeway with no visible person behind the wheel. Some
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cars sped up, while others swerved to avoid it before
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it struck the concrete median and finally came to a stop.
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A truck driver traveling in the opposite direction reported seeing
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a man near the car while it sat on the shoulder.
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The man then ran off into the woods beside the
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freeway as the car rolled into traffic. However, the description
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of the man who ran off didn't match the description
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of the young man who left home driving that car.
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So who was this? Why did they abandon a car
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on the freeway like that? And where was the young
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man who should have been driving that car? More than
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ten years later, the nineteen year old who left home
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in that car has never been found, and no one
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has been able to explain what exactly happened on that freeway.
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I'm John Lorden, and this is the seriously mysterious disappearance
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of Logan Shindleman. Logan Drew Shindelman was born on June
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twenty seventh, nineteen ninety six, and grew up in Tumwater,
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Washington State, roughly sixty miles south of Seattle, with his
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older half sister, Chloe. Their maternal grandmother, Jinny Geebo, had
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become their legal guardian. However, their mother, Hannah, also remained
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part of their lives. Logan's biological father returned to his
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native Saudi Arabia before he was born, and Logan grew
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up without ever meeting him. Friends and relatives described Logan
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as smart, funny, polite, and easy to like. He earned
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good grades and played defensive back for the Tumwater High
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School football team. He was strong and always willing to help,
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regularly doing chores like mowing fields and cleaning the barns
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on his great aunt nuncles farm. Although Logan was popular
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and enjoyed joking around with his friends, his family remembers
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a quieter, more sensitive side. He listened to music, wrote poetry,
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and he loved movies. His great aunt Mary Ware told Dateline,
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I don't know anybody that did not like Logan. Near
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the end of high school, Logan began grappling more seriously.
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With questions about his identity and where he belonged. One
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incident in particular appears to have marked a turning point.
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At a party, a young woman made racist remarks toward Logan.
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Tumwater is a predominantly white community, and Logan has black, white,
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and Saudi heritage. According to his white grandmother, Jinny, it
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wasn't only the racist remark that it hurt Logan. His
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friends had also heard those comments, and none of them
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stepped up or defended him. He came away believing that
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the people he once trusted weren't really there for him.
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He distanced himself from them and even changed his college plans,
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choosing Washington State University more than five hours away, rather
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than attending college alongside his old friends. Shortly before leaving
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for college, he met some of his black relatives for
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the first time. His great aunt, Tina Roberts Quarrie, showed
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him family photos and recalled Logan, saying, it feels so
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good to see someone that looks like me. They stayed
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in contact through Facebook while he was at school. When
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he got to WSU, Logan made new friends and threw
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himself into its thriving social scene, but along the way
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he stopped attending classes regularly, and he stopped completing his work.
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After his freshman year, he wasn't allowed to return. He
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moved back into Jenny's house, worked a series of jobs,
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and tried to figure out what came next. While Logan
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was away at school, his sister, Chloe's boyfriend had also
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moved into Ginny's and his children sometimes stayed over. Logan
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later told his great aunt Mary that the children weren't
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an issue, but that Chloe's boyfriend was the problem, although
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he never explained what he meant by that. His other
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great aunt, Tina, said that after he came home from college,
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Logan stopped responding to her messages altogether. Jinny was also
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noticing a change. She would later tell police that Logan
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had been battling depression for about two years and that
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his behavior had changed dramatically over the previous six to
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eight months. She also said that he was observed talking
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to himself, but he refused to see a psychologist. On Wednesday,
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May eighteenth, twenty sixteen, Logan made several statements that no
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no one understood. He told Ginny he'd experienced an epiphany
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about who he was, but when she asked what he meant,
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he replied, I can't really explain it. The incident report says.
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Ginny also told police that Logan had said that he
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was not going to make it. Jinny described Logan as
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really nervous and kind of on a mission, and he
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told her that he might be gone for the weekend.
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She suggested they continue the conversation when she got home
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from work, but that was the last time that they spoke.
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That same day, Logan messaged a young woman that he
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had met on a dating app, writing, I hope to
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survive this week. When she asked what he meant, he
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didn't answer. When you take it to consideration the way
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Logan had been pulling away from people close to him,
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and specifically the changes that Ginny described, it certainly sounds
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like Logan may have been facing a mental health crisis.
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Of course, he could have also been facing some other
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threat as well, But whatever Logan and meant by these statements,
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he disappeared before he could explain any of it. According
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to an initial incident report, at around six o'clock on Thursday,
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May nineteenth, Logan left home wearing jeans and a black windbreaker.
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He was driving the family's black Chrysler Seabring convertible. When
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Logan didn't return home that day, Jinny wasn't immediately alarmed.
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He had said that he might be gone for the weekend,
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and a location service connected to his phone appeared to
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place it near his mother, Hannah's home in Olympia, about
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four miles north of Tomwater. Ginny assumed that he might
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be there visiting her, but strangely, Hannah would state that
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she had not seen him on that day. Interstate five
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runs directly through Tomwater, carrying traffic south toward Portland, Oregon,
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or north towards Seattle. On the afternoon of Friday, May twentieth,
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the day after Logan had left home, three motorists on
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I five called nine one one about the Seabring. The
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car appeared to have no driver and was slowly moving
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across the southbound side of the freeway. One of those
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three witnesses, a truck driver traveling in the opposite direction,
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said that he saw someone at or inside the passenger
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side while the Seabring was on the shoulder of the
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southbound lanes. He said that the person ran into the
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woods along the freeway, and moments later the car moved
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from the shoulder and crossed three lanes before striking the
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concrete median near milepost ninety two and finally coming to
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a stop. The account doesn't establish exactly where the person
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had been or whether the truck driver clearly saw him
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climb out. Older reports described someone jumping from the passenger side,
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while a later case file review said that only a
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person was seen at or inside the passenger side of
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the seabring moments before it moved. The truck driver saw
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the scene for only a few seconds from the opposite
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side of a divided freeway, so the details are obviously
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difficult to assess. Reports also described grocery bags inside the
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seabring as being undisturbed, but accounts conflict over exactly where
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they were positioned. Some of the older reports described a tall, thin,
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white man with brown or reddish hair. When shown Logan's photograph,
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the truck driver said Logan was not the man that
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he had seen. If he was correct, someone else was
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with the car, and someone else ran off into the woods.
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Left inside the car were Logan's phone, wallet, identification, and
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debit card, along with a small amount of cash. Food
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and water were also found inside, and a blanket, clothing
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and DBDs were packed in the trunk. It looked as
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though Logan had prepared for a short trip then somehow
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left behind nearly everything he would need to communicate, identify
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by himself, or pay for anything. There was no obvious
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blood or signs of a struggle. Because police didn't know
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that Logan was missing. At this point, the Seabring was
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treated as an abandoned vehicle. It sat in a tow
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lot for three days before being released to Ginny and
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her husband Bill. By the time detectives examined it, troopers,
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towyard employees, and family members had all handled the car,
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making forensics challenging to say the least. Bill also noticed
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damage to one seat that he believed was new. The
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Seabring wasn't dusted for fingerprints until roughly six days after
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the freeway incident. Investigators recovered no prints, saying the car
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was dirty and had few smooth surfaces. At about one
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oh five am on Saturday May twenty first, about ten
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hours after the car crossed I five, another caller reported
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a man without pants walking near the same general stretch
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of freeway in Woods. Detective Frank Frawley later said investigators
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considered whether the the man might have been Logan and
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initiated a search using dogs, but they found nothing. As
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he put it, could have been Logan, could have been anybody.
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Over the weekend, Jenny called the Sheriff's office, but the
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public office was closed. She and Bill drove around Olympia,
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especially near the area where Logan's phone tracking had appeared,
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unaware that the car was already sitting in a toe lot.
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On Monday, May twenty third, Jenny went to the Sheriff's
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office and formally reported Logan missing. A record's check then
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revealed that Washington State Patrol had impounded the seabring three
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days earlier. Once the car was connected to Logan's disappearance.
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Six K nine teams, including tracking and cadaver dogs, searched
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the woods in brush around mile post ninety two, while
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a helicopter equipped with thermal imaging scanned the area from above.
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They found no trace of Logan or the man that
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had run from the car. Investigators later discovered that before
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the freeway in incident, Logan's phone had made an unexplained
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journey of roughly one hundred miles south from Olympia to Vancouver. Washington.
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Detective Frawley said It then traveled back north toward the
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Olympia area before turning south again and ending up about
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ten miles south of Tumwater. Because the phone was found
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inside the car, investigators believed the Sea Bring had made
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that journey with it, but the records couldn't establish whether
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Logan was inside, who was driving, or whether anyone else
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was with him. The route itself is difficult to explain.
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What was the purpose of the trip to Vancouver and
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why return almost all the way to the Olympia area
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only to reverse direction and have the Sea Bring end
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up so close to where Logan lived. Vancouver, Washington, not
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to be confused with Vancouver, Canada, sits directly across the
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Columbia River from Portland, Oregon, and happens to be where
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the young woman Logan had connected with through that dating
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app lived. She was the person who received the I
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hope to survive this week message. When investigators contacted her,
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she said that she and Logan had never met in person,
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and nothing was found connecting her to Logan's disappearance. Investigators
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checked hospitals and contacted law enforcement in every county where
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the phone connected to a tower, but found no confirmed sightings.
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They also examined Logan's computer, but if anything important was found,
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it has not been shared with the public. More than
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a year later, another witness came forward. She said that
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on the morning of May twentieth, twenty sixteen, she passed
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the seabring on the shoulder of southbound I five near
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exit ninety five, and she saw three men beside it,
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two white men and a third man that she believed
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was Logan. One man was described as very thin and
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about six feet tall, with straight blonde hair in a
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bowl cut. The other had shoulder length blonde hair. She
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said that she later saw the sea bring again with
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a hood raised, but reports don't give the exact time
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of this second sighting. Exit ninety five is roughly three
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miles north of mile post ninety two. Also worth mentioning
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she had never met Logan and she only saw that
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scene briefly. She also waited about thirteen months to report it,
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but investigators worked the lead, releasing a composite sketch of
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the man with the bowl cut. Neither of the two
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men have ever been identified, and we have no confirmation
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that the third man was indeed Logan. Even as the
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investigation slowed, Logan's family and supporters kept searching. Volunteers distributed posters,
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A private investigator examined the case, and his great uncle,
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Mike ware, a retired Thurston County Sheriff's lieutenant, repeatedly searched
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the freeway area himself. In June of twenty twenty five,
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the Thurston County Sheriff's Office Cold Case Unit renewed its appeal.
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In May of twenty twenty six, family, friends, teachers, and
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other community members gathered for a vigil in Olympia to
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mark ten years since Logan disappeared. What makes this case
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so bizarre is that every theory explains one part but
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creates another question. In a twenty seventeen interview, Detective Frawley
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said that he had no reason to believe Logan had
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been killed, but also no reason to believe he was alive.
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Investigators haven't identified a leading explanation, and Logan's relatives have
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reached different conclusions themselves. Is this a mental health crisis
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or was Logan somehow involved in a dangerous situation? It
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becomes a game of where does each theory fit and
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where does it fall apart? A psychological crisis is a
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serious possibility. Jinny told police that Logan had struggled with
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depression and that his behavior had changed dramatically over the
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previous six to eight months, pulling away from people, talking
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to himself, making comments about an epiphany, saying he was
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not going to make it, and writing I hope to
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survive this week. Could all support that theory. Of course,
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they could also point to a true physically dangerous situation.
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What was Logan's business with these two other men? Well,
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if that sighting's accurate, if the man scene without pants
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was Logan, that could fit a mental distress situation, but
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that sighting was also never confirmed. Jinny herself would later
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say that she did not think Logan was in crisis,
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while Tina said that she believed he was indeed depressed,
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but didn't think that he would harm himself. Even if
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Logan was experiencing some kind of mental health break, though,
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that wouldn't explain the truck driver that said the man
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scene running from the sea bring wasn't Logan. Foul play
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becomes much harder to dismiss with that information, How when
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and why did Logan become separated from his car? Is
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this one of the two blond men seen by the
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other witness, had Logan picked them up or had they
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already been traveling with him. A random carjacking seems less
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likely because Logan's belongings and the car itself were abandoned,
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but there was no obvious sign of a struggle. The
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phone's route creates even more questions. Was Logan separated from
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the car before or after that first trip south? If so,
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why did someone bring it back towards Olympia and Tumwater.
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Perhaps Logan was involved in a dangerous situation that his
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family knew nothing about. But there is another possibility. Could
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Logan have chosen to leave. He left behind his phone, wallet, identification,
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debit card, a small amount of cash, and of course,
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the car itself. His last known bank activity was cashing
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a six hundred dollars check on May fifth, and investigators
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found no later financial activity. His family has also said
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that he didn't have the EpiPen he needed for a
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severe peanut allergy. No sighting has ever been confirmed as
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being Logan. Could he really have pulled off disappearing completely?
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His great uncle Mike would tell Dateline, there's just no
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question in my mind that he would not disappear on
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his own without letting somebody know. But sometimes reality isn't
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as simple as a single answer. Maybe a combined explanation
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is at play here. Logan could have chosen to leave
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while facing mental distress, making him more vulnerable to manipulation
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or danger. His state of mind could have shaped where
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he went or how he reacted. Some relatives suspected that
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Chloe's boyfriend might have some involvement because Logan called him
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the problem. The case file also noted inconsistencies in the
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boyfriend's accounts, but investigators interviewed him several times, said he
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passed a polygraph, and ultimately ruled him out. Detective Frawley
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said investigators also considered whether drugs played a role, but
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Ginny knew only of Logan's marijuana use, and there's no
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evidence that he used harder drugs, owed money, or was
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involved in crime in any way. Of course, I imagine
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that many people hold onto that consideration, especially with the
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strange travel noted from Logan's phone. Ten years later, were
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left with the bizarre image of a black convertible drifting
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across the freeway with no one behind the wheel, and
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the painful question of what happened to Logan. Shindelman his
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ominous statements, the phone's unexplained journey. These clues appear to
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lead somewhere, but none has led to Logan, at least
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not yet. The Tumwater High School football program that Logan
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played for lived by a creed. Never give up, Never,
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never give up. Do you know anything that could help
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find Logan? Logan Drew Shindelman was nineteen when he disappeared
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from Tumwater, Washington, on May nineteenth, twenty sixteen. He would
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now be thirty. At the time of his disappearance. Washington
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State Patrol described Logan as approximately five feet eleven inches
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tall and one hundred and fifty pounds, with brown eyes
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and black hair. He also has a small scar on
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his left forearm below the elbow. Please contact the Thurston
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County Sheriff's Office at three six zero seven eight six
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five five zero zero. You can also contact the Washington
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State Patrol Missing Persons Unit at one eight hundred five
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four three five six seven eight. A reward is available
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for information leading to Logan's recovery. Do you have any
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insights or a case you'd like to suggest, Feel free
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to send it to me. You'll find a comment form
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and case submission link at Lordenarts dot com. Thank you
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to Dateline and NBC News, the Thurston County Sheriff's Office,
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Washington State Patrol, NamUs, The Olympian, True Crime News, Fox thirteen,
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00:19:56.160 --> 00:20:00.759
Seattle King Five, Trace Evidence, the Charlie Project, Stories Be Unsolved,
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the Facebook group Logan Shindleman is Missing, and ELI Sports
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Network for information contributing to today's case. This episode was
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written by Kira McQueen, edited by John Lorden, and produced
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by lord Arts. You can help Kira's work on missing
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persons cases in the Washington area on Instagram by following
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her at Missing NWA and sharing her posts. Thank you
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to our lord and Art supporters. If you'd like to
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become one, please visit lordenarts dot com, where you can
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00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:31.799
sign up for Patreon, sign up for PayPal, by merchandise,
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or even just buy us at coffee. But most of all,
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thank you for sharing this time with me today. I'm
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John Lorden. Please join me again next week for another
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story I know you'll find seriously mysterious
