Benjamin Robert Sjoberg, 23, vanished from the USS Harper’s Ferry during its maiden six-month deployment in the autumn of 1996. The last confirmed sighting was about 11:00 p.m. while the ship was operating between Kauai and Niihau and at one point came within 2,000 yards of shore. The morning after that sighting he was reported missing and the ship’s log recorded him as lost at sea.

An immediate search of more than 1,500 square miles of the Pacific and nearby shorelines turned up no sign of the athletic, 6 feet 3 inches, 200-pound sailor, who was described as an excellent swimmer and outdoorsman. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service has kept the case open; investigators have considered accidental fall overboard and other possibilities, but no evidence has substantiated a single theory.

Did anyone aboard the Harper’s Ferry or in the Hawaiian islands notice anything unusual that night or have information about Sjoberg’s movements?