Hysong, circa 1990
Hysong, circa 1990
Name: James Robert Hysong, Jr.
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: March 15, 1993
Location Last Seen: Sylvania Township, Lucas County, Ohio
Date of Birth: May 8, 1972
Age: 20 yrs old
Race: White
Gender: Male
Height: 5'8"-5'10"
Weight: 140-150 lbs
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Blue
Nickname/Alias: Jim
Distinguishing Marks/Features: None
Dentals: Available
Fingerprints: Not Available
DNA: Available
Clothing: Unknown
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown
Jim Hysong was last seen as he climbed into a rented, 1993 Piper Cherokee Arrow, two-seat plane at Toledo Suburban Airport on March 15, 1993 with a tail number of N15206. He had rented a 1974 Piper Cherokee Arrow for a short trip to Jackson, Michigan, where he planned to take a test to become a flight instructor. Hysong was an accomplished pilot.
Investigators have two main theories about what happened that day: either Hysong decided to commit suicide for some unknown reason by crashing the airplane into Lake Michigan, or he stole the aircraft with the intention of selling it.
According to Federal Aviation Administration radar logs, a plane piloted by Hysong took off from Toledo Suburban about 10:15 a.m. and climbed to an altitude of 4,800 feet as it headed northwest. But the plane bypassed Jackson Airport to the east by several miles. The plane continued past Grand Rapids and Grand Haven and went about 15 miles out over Lake Michigan before disappearing about 83 minutes after the flight began.
Volunteer pilots from the Michigan Chapter of the Civil Air Patrol searched from the air for wreckage of the plane for six weeks, first on land and then on water. Nothing was ever located.
Every part of the $40,000 airplane was listed as stolen and entered on the national databases of the Law Enforcement Information Network and the National Crime Information Center in July, 1994. Since then not a single piece of the aircraft has turned up.
On four different occasions, the Federal Aviation Administration reported instances of pilots around the country using the identifying tail number of the missing aircraft - N15206 -, either during radio weather checks or purchasing fuel. None of the FAA investigations into the four reports resulted in any hard evidence or even eyewitness accounts of an aircraft with that tail number. The tail number remains on the FAA's list of missing or stolen aircraft.
Agency Name: Monroe County Sheriff's Office
Agency Contact Person: Detective Jeff Hooper
Agency Phone Number: 734-240-7415
Agency E-Mail: jeff.hooper@monroesheriff.com
Agency Case Number: OCA# 6195-93
NamUs Case Number: 10921
NCIC Case Number: N/A
Added: Prior to 2011; Last Updated: 05-18-2022 - By: Htmlcnvtr
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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