Alice Urich has gone on record as saying she knew her son, Jackie, liked to have a good time and would disappear every now and again, although no more than a weekend at a time.
Alice said Jackie, who lived with his parents at the time , never told them about his weekend sojourns. However, Urich said, Jackie always consoled her by assuring her that ``if anything happens to me, you'd know about it.''
``He liked to party,'' Urich told reporters at the time. ``Sometimes we didn't know where he went.''
One time, he went away and never came back.
On Thursday, July 9, 1998, Jackie,40, left the family home in Westville in Adair County.
He has never been heard from again.
Twelve days after Urich went missing, his red 1987 Ford Ranger pickup truck (Oklahoma license plate number AIM 964) was found wrecked in a rural area near Coleman Road in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma. It had run into a tree just a few miles outside Henryetta approximately 115 miles from Westville.
Witnesses told police a young Caucasian male and two Caucasian females get out of the vehicle. They got a ride with a farmer to Weleetka, Oklahoma and when the farmer was later interviewed by police he claimed the man he assisted didn't match Urich's description.
There is no evidence that Urich sold or loaned his truck to anyone after his disappearance, but there were no signs of foul play in the vehicle itself.
Urich's family stated he had gotten involved with some unsavory people prior to his disappearance.
They described him as a trusting, generous individual.
He was a self-employed construction worker in 1998. Urich was described as being round 5'8" and weighing around 170 pounds with graying brown hair and blue eyes. Urich had a receding hairline and a graying brown beard and mustache. He has previously broken both arms and the bridge of his nose. He had a small circular scar on his forehead, according to police reports.
If you have any information that might help unravel this 21-year-o;d mystery you are asked to call the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation 918-456-0037.
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