Jun 02, 2017
Mar 27, 2023
Jorge
Velasquez
67
20
70 inches
166 lbs
Hispanic / Latino
Male
In the late summer of 1978, a young man named Jorge Alberto Velasquez was stationed at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. At 20 years old, the Hispanic male stood at a height of five feet ten inches and weighed around 166 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He was at the beginning of his adult life, serving in the United States Air Force in Maricopa County. However, on September 18, 1978, a day that began like any other on the busy military installation, Jorge’s life took an unforeseen and alarming turn. He failed to report for his assigned duty, an absence that was immediately noted and out of character. This was the last time he was officially seen or heard from, marking the start of a long and perplexing disappearance that has spanned decades. The initial response to Jorge's failure to report for duty was a series of urgent attempts to find him. Military protocol and the concern of his colleagues and superiors would have triggered a thorough search of the base and inquiries into his known whereabouts and activities. Investigators from the Air Force Office of Special Investigations were tasked with piecing together the timeline of his last known movements. Despite these efforts, every attempt to locate Jorge was met with what was officially described as "negative results." There were no immediate signs of foul play, nor any indication that he had intended to leave. The lack of any communication or evidence left his family, friends, and fellow service members with a void of information and a growing sense of worry. The mystery of what happened to Jorge Alberto Velasquez has endured for many years, becoming a cold case with few leads to follow. The passage of time has not diminished the fundamental questions surrounding his disappearance. The official investigation, led by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, remains open, a testament to the unresolved nature of the case. The circumstances of his disappearance are stark in their simplicity: he failed to show up for his military duties one day and was never located. Without witnesses, a note, or any subsequent contact, the case is a painful and open-ended story, leaving those who knew him to wonder what became of the young airman who vanished from a secure military base so long ago. The overview of the case is one of an abrupt and unexplained absence that has left a family and a military community searching for answers.
Sep 18, 1978
Luke AFB
Arizona
Maricopa County
33621
Air Force Office of Special Investigations
Quantico
Virginia
Prince William County
22134
John Fine
Chief, Cold Case Team Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) AFOSI-Center, Quantico, VA
Russell-Knox Building, Virginia
8772461453
Federal
Law Enforcement
ICON-D-085-A--33298151621
Air Force Office of Special Investigations
Black
Brown
Brown
07/29/2026
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