Joshua Matthew Stephens was 43 when he was last seen on April 20, 2023, at the Pilot Travel Center on Ruffin Mill Road in Chesterfield County, Virginia. He is a white male with brown hair and brown eyes, about 5 feet 10 inches and 190 pounds, and at the time he was without a permanent address.

The last contact his family had with Joshua was July 27, 2023. No report was filed with Chesterfield County Police until December 22, 2023, after months of no communication. Investigators have described a sparse timeline and asked the public for help; a body of an unidentified male recovered from a pond on Belmont Road on January 10, 2024, was taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for identification.

The case hinges on several gaps: the long interval between last sighting and last contact, the late filing of the missing person report, and the limited information about his whereabouts while unhoused. Anyone who saw Joshua around the Pilot Travel Center after April 20, 2023, or who has information about his movements between July and December 2023 is asked to come forward.