Resources for Missing Persons

According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day. Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends. Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.

Missing Person Case Updates with Photos

Steven Dick Kirchhoff




Kirchhoff, date, approximate 1978
Date Missing 01/24/1978
Missing From
Waterloo, Iowa
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Male
Race
White
Date of Birth 08/16/1955 (67)
Age 22 years old
Height and Weight 5'11, 140 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A short burnt orange leather jacket, a blue sweater, dark blue corduroy pants and brown shoes with the word "GASS" written on the soles.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Brown hair, brown eyes. Kirchhoff has several fillings in his teeth and possibly other dental work as well. His nickname is Steven and some accounts spell his last name "Kirchhoff."
Details of Disappearance Kirchhoff was last seen in Waterloo, Iowa on January 24, 1978. He spent the previous night with a girlfriend and apparently disappeared between 1:00 and 5:00 p.m. the next day, possibly in a residence on Maxwell Street about a mile from his parents' home.
He was known to be a drug dealer and authorities think his disappearance may have been drug-related. They believe he was carrying up to $8,000 in cash when he disappeared, and possibly he was robbed and killed. Shortly after his disappearance, Kirchhoff's car was found in a parking lot at the Waterloo Industries Inc. factory near Maxwell street.
Another missing Iowa man,Richard Forsyth, may have been connected in some way to Kirchhoff's disappearance.
There were rumors that Forsyth was seen carrying something wrapped in a rug the day after Kirchhoff vanished, and he bought a 1972 Cadillac for $2,000 the next day, paying in $100 bills. His face was bruised and bloody at the time, and he said he'd fallen on a wine bottle and had to get stitches.
He left town that day and had his stitches removed in Manhattan, Kansas on February 1. After that he traveled to an uncle's home in Tucson, Arizona. By the time the police and Kirchhoff's parents tracked him to Arizona, Forsyth was gone.
In mid-1979, the Cadillac Forsyth bought was found in storage in Grand Forks, North Dakota. A man calling himself David Gates had left it there a year earlier, paying only one month's storage fee. The same day the car was left in storage, a man who called himself Richard Steves rented a room in Grand Forks, paying one month's rent, but he didn't stay even one night.
Kirchhoff's parents believe believe Forsyth and "Richard Steves" may have been the same person, but the landlady couldn't identify Forsyth's photograph.
The Kirchhoffs think Forsyth may have gone to Canada; the Canadian border is only 75 miles from Grand Forks. Forsyth's Cadillac was bloodstained, but the stains could not be matched to Kirchhoff's blood.
Forsyth was reported missing from Waterloo, Iowa on October 18, 1979. He remains listed as a missing person and has not been conclusively linked to Kirchhoff's . Both men's s remain unsolved.
In 2003, authorities acting on a tip began searching a rural 12-acre farmstead between Fairbank and Denver, Iowa for evidence related to Kirchhoff's . It was once owned by a Waterloo man, Lonson "Lonnie" Luloff, who faced life in prison for federal methamphetamine and weapons charges in 1994 but was released in 2000 after cutting a deal with prosecutors.
Luloff is described by investigators as one of the biggest drug suppliers in the area. Authorities are not calling him a suspect in Kirchhoff's disappearance, however, and nothing was found in the search of his farm.
Kirchhoff graduated from West High School in Waterloo in 1973; he was a good student there and worked part time. He was employed as a lineman for the Chicago Northwestern Railroad but had been laid off weeks before his disappearance.
He had just purchased a new house, was planning to marry the mother of his two-year-old child, and appeared to be in good spirits. His remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
Waterloo Police Department
319-291-4345
Other
Iowa Missing Person Information Clearinghouse
The Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier Online
The Doe Network
KCCI 8
Iowa Cold s
The Des Moines Register

Missing Person Photos

A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe. By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends. A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.

Resources for Missing Persons

According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day. Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends. Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.

Missing Person Case Updates with Photos