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Case Description

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Gerald "Jerry" Schroeder, a 38-year-old man, was last seen on May 29, 1983, in Portland, Oregon. He attended a private apartment party on Northeast Glisan Street that night, where he was socializing with friends and had been drinking. In the early hours of the morning, Jerry was seen asleep on a couch, but when his friends awoke, he was gone. His disappearance was perplexing, as his car�a 1959 Chevrolet El Camino�was found later that day near NE Marine Drive and 185th Avenue, unlocked with the k ...Read More
Last Seen: May 29, 1983

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Victim Details

Jan 14, 2015

Jan 08, 2024

Gerald

Schroeder

79

38

70 inches

72 inches

220 lbs

250 lbs

White / Caucasian

Male

In the spring of 1983, a 38-year-old man named Gerald Frederick Schroeder, known to his friends and family as Jerry, disappeared from Portland, Oregon. The evening of Saturday, May 28th, had been an ordinary one, spent socializing with a group of friends at a private party in an apartment on Northeast Glisan Street. As the night turned into the early hours of Sunday, May 29, 1983, the gathering wound down. Jerry, having been drinking with his friends, was seen sleeping on the apartment's couch, a seemingly safe and unremarkable end to a pleasant evening. No one present could have known it would be the last time he was ever seen. The following day, concern for Jerry's welfare grew when he could not be located. The search took a troubling turn when his family discovered his vehicle, a 1959 Chevrolet El Camino. The car was not at the apartment where he was last seen, but had been left abandoned on the south side of Northeast Marine Drive at 185th Avenue. The discovery of the vehicle only deepened the mystery; the car was unlocked, and the keys had been left inside. This detail suggested that whatever happened to Jerry occurred suddenly, leaving little time for him to secure his property. A report was officially filed with the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office on May 30, 1983, beginning a case that has now spanned decades. Decades have passed since Gerald Schroeder vanished, yet the case remains open, a quiet and persistent question in the files of the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office. Investigators were left with a sparse trail of evidence: a man last seen sleeping on a friend's couch and a car left unlocked with the keys inside. There were no immediate signs of foul play at the apartment, and the condition of the vehicle offered few clues as to its driver's fate. Over the years, law enforcement has been left to piece together the final moments of Jerry's life, a puzzle with crucial pieces still missing. The case is an overview of absence, a story defined not by what is known, but by the profound and enduring lack of answers as to what happened after Jerry Schroeder fell asleep at a party one spring night.

May 29, 1983

Portland

Oregon

Multnomah County

No

16162

Multnomah County Sheriff's Office

Portland

Oregon

Multnomah County

97214

Lee Gosson

Detective Sgt.

501 Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard, Suite 350, Oregon

5039884300

County

Law Enforcement

https://www.mcso.us/site/

83-11799

1983-05-30

Multnomah County Sheriff's Office

Brown

Blue

Blue

No

05/29/2026


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