Name: Franklin Thomas Gottschalk
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: February 2, 1997
Location Last Seen: Mason, Ingham County, Michigan
Date of Birth: Circa 1972
Age: 24 years old
Race: White
Gender: Male
Height: 5'2"
Weight: 150-155 lbs.
Hair Color: Brown hair, straight; styled curly for photo
Eye Color: Brown
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Scar on left shoulder from motorcycle accident; scar on solar plexus.
Dentals: Available
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Unknown
Clothing: There was nothing missing from his bags except for a black leather jacket and a "Detroit Lions" coat
Jewelry: Watch with brown leather band.
Additional Personal Items: Wallet
Gottschalk was last seen at his residence in Mason, Michigan on February 2, 1997.
He had been an English major at Michigan State University and was within three credits of graduating, but he did not register for classes for the spring semester of 1997. On February 2 he drove off in his brother's 1977 black and red Oldsmobile Toronado Trofeo, without permission, and has never been heard from again.
Gottschalk's brother's vehicle was found in a parking lot at the corner of Grand River Avenue and Cedar Street in Lansing, Michigan. There was no sign of Gottschalk at the scene, but cyclists found two bags belonging to him on the Shiawassee Street bridge. Divers searched the water beneath the bridge but found no clues relating to Gottschalk's case.
There was nothing missing from the bags except Gottschalk's black leather jacket, his Detroit Lions coat, his wallet, and a watch his mother had given him. The Detroit Lions coat was later found in a cornfield in the Mason area.
Agency Name: Ingham County Sheriff Dept.
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: 517-676-2431
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 97-2460
NamUs Case Number: 9159
The State News - 2/12/98
Poetic Justice
NamUs
Added: 1-3-2006; Last Updated: 8/12/22 - By: hb
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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