Thomas TJ Mixon vanished from Buffalo, New York, after leaving his home near Bryson Street and Memorial Drive on May 4, 1998. He was 26 and a father; that evening he left a message on his mother’s answering machine asking her to page him. When she tried, an unexpected reply said he had gone turkey hunting and that inquiries should be directed to his roommate, Vladimir L. Sokolov.

Mixons mother reported him missing on May 11, 1998. Within a day of his disappearance Sokolov was seen putting Thomas’s belongings out on the street and reportedly began wearing his clothes. Mixon had deeded his apartment to Sokolov; his mother believed the transfer was to keep the ex-wife from getting the property. She also told police she thought her son was involved in drug trafficking and that a deal with Sokolov might have gone wrong. An ex-girlfriend of Sokolov later alleged she saw Mixon’s dismembered body in the shared apartment, but a police search two weeks after the disappearance found the unit cleaned and repainted.

Sokolov returned to Bulgaria in 1999 after learning he was a suspect and was later charged and extradited to face trial in the U.S.; he was acquitted in March 2002. Mixon’s body has never been found and foul play is strongly suspected. Did anyone who knew Thomas, his routines, or his circle in Buffalo in 1998 see or hear anything that might help resolve what happened to him?