Shawn Hess, 28, disappeared from Brainerd, Minnesota, on the night of February 26, 2002. He attended a meeting at 16th and Oak streets and was last seen walking east near Eighth and Oak. His family reported him missing on February 28 after they could not contact him.

Officers found his apartment on the 1100 block of south Sixth Street undisturbed with all personal items, including clothing, medication, and identification, left behind. There was no financial activity on his accounts after he vanished. In May 2002 a jacket matching the one he was reported to be wearing was found near a swampy area east of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad shops; additional clothing—pants, a shirt, shoes, and socks—were later discovered scattered along the railroad tracks in a pattern suggesting they had been removed over distance. Investigators considered hypothermia a possible explanation, since severe exposure can cause disorientation and paradoxical undressing, but extensive searches of the rough, swampy terrain have not located his remains.

The case remains an active missing person investigation and no further evidence or contact has been reported. Does anyone who lived or worked east of the railroad shops in early 2002 remember seeing Shawn or items like those described along the tracks?