Boaz Zino, known as Bo, was 23 and a U.S. Army trainee when he disappeared while on Christmas leave from basic training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He was last seen on a bus in Oakland, California, on January 3, 1999. Zino told two fellow soldiers he planned to go to San Francisco; it is unknown whether he ever reached that destination.

Zino is described as a white male, 5 feet 10 inches, about 170 pounds, with brown hair, brown eyes, and distance-vision glasses. He had a scar on his abdomen and a few moles on his face. Before enlisting on November 30, 1998, he had been a Dean’s List student at SUNY Albany, spent time with a circus, and studied at a yeshiva in Israel. He had been diagnosed with a mental illness and prescribed medication, which he did not tell military recruiters. Weeks after enlisting he spoke with his family and sounded in good spirits; the family learned of his disappearance only when the Army reported he had not returned to Fort Sill as scheduled.

A private investigator hired in 2001 thought Zino might be living among homeless communities in Oakland and Berkeley; reported sightings at shelters were not confirmed. Both Oklahoma and California authorities have been involved and the case remains unsolved. Does anyone who lived in the East Bay in late 1998 or early 1999 remember a man matching Boaz’s description or his nickname Bo?