Gary Wayne Akers, 35, disappeared from his Union, Missouri, home on the night of December 11, 1988, after saying he would walk to a neighbor’s to borrow a chainsaw. He was seen about 30 minutes later at Mom’s Hilltop Tavern in Grubville buying a six-pack of beer; that is the last confirmed sighting. His black Jeep was found the next morning abandoned near the subdivision entrance off Route FF with the keys hidden above the sun visor and four cans of beer inside. No signs of a struggle or violence were reported at the vehicle.

At the time Akers worked nights on the assembly line at the Ford Motor Co. in Hazelwood and had recently bought Christmas presents for his children. Investigators later learned he had been involved with marijuana and methamphetamine, a fact his wife did not know. Authorities say he had received threats before he vanished, and his wife began getting threatening calls afterward that eventually forced her to move.

The Franklin County Sheriff’s Department has not developed significant leads and the case is cold. Family members, including a brother and sister-in-law, fear he is no longer alive. Does anyone remember seeing Gary or his Jeep in the area that night, or have information about the threats he was receiving?