Jacob Christian Sletvold was 56 when he vanished in autumn 2002 after driving from Memphis to Dubuque, Iowa, to visit his 13-year-old daughter. He had myotonic dystrophy, a progressive condition that can cause muscle weakness and mental confusion, and family discussions had mentioned a nursing home he reportedly disliked. His daughter last saw him when he left two days earlier than planned and he never called to confirm his return to Memphis.

On October 10, 2002, Sletvold’s green 1995 Oldsmobile was found abandoned in a northbound ditch off Interstate 55 near Osceola, Arkansas — facing the opposite direction from his route home. No sign of him was at the scene. Between November 19 and 21 his credit cards were used at locations in West Memphis, Memphis and as far south as Lake Como, Mississippi; his last official contact is recorded as November 12, 2002. An attorney handling his assets later said he believed Sletvold had been abducted and murdered. In November 2009 a Shelby County Chancellor legally declared him dead so his assets could be transferred to his daughter.

Several key questions remain: who used those cards after his car was found, and what happened between the abandoned Oldsmobile on Interstate 55 and the last known transactions?