Missing: Stephan Mitchell Adams
Case: Endangered Missing
Nickname: Steven Mitchell Adams (sp)
Missing From: Tehlequah, Oklahoma
Missing Date: December 13, 2004
Vehicle: (also missing) 1995 White GMC pickup with Oklahoma tags SCQ-714. Chrome bed rails. Truck has red pinstripe on side.
Race: Native American/White Sex: Male
Age at Time Missing: 26 years old
Height: 5’7″ tall
Weight: 200 lbs.
Hair Color: Brown, collar length
Facial Hair: Brown and usually wears full beard; sometimes a goatee
Eye Color: Brown
Tattoos: unknown
Scars/Piercings/Unique Marks:
Other: Requires medication for a medical condition.
Clothing: Last seen wearing a black tee-shirt, blue jeans and carrying a dark colored bookbag.
Police Agency: Oklahoma Bureau of Investigations, phone (918) 456-0653, the FBI, or your local police.
Case Number: #2004-1214 NCIC M-144557851 NamUs # 849
Circumstance: On Monday, December 13, 2004, Steven Mitchell Adams completed a final examination at Northeastern State University (NSU) in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Steven was last seen leaving NSU campus in his white truck. His girlfriend phoned him to ask how the final went, and Steven advised that his exam went well. Steven told his girlfriend that he was giving a man a ride to Keys, OK, and that he would call her right back. Steven intended to visit his mother in Webbers Falls, OK. Since this date, Steven has missed work, other final examinations, and has had no contact with his family or friends. Steven’s absence is considered suspicious and possible foul play. His vehicle is also missing and is described as a white 1995 Chevy pickup truck with OK Lic# SCQ714. He has not used his credit cards or cellular phone since his disappearance, and he left all of his personal belongings behind and money in his dresser.
Investigators would like to identify and interview a possible witness in Adams’s disappearance. He was seen at a Dollar General store on east Downing Street in Tahlequah, close to Adams’s apartment, on the morning of December 13. They describe the individual as a Caucasian male, 5’11 and 180 to 200 pounds, with brown and salt-and-pepper collar-length hair and about four days’ growth of salt-and-pepper facial hair. He was between 40 and 50 years old in 2004 and was wearing a tan Carhartt jacket, faded blue or black jeans, a flannel shirt, a dark green stocking cap, and eyeglasses. He drove a charcoal-colored or faded black 2000 Ford Ranger pickup truck with a chrome toolbox. A sketch of the individual is posted below this case summary.
Authorities stated that the individual arrived at the store at 7:50 a.m. and hung around in the parking lot for hours. He claimed he was waiting for someone, but no one appeared to meet him. He mentioned to a passerby that he worked at a construction site in Keys, which is just south of Tahlequah. The man left the parking lot just before 11:00 a.m., around the time Adams disappeared. The person being called not a suspect in Adams’s case, but police feel he has information that may assist the investigation. He has yet to be identified.
Adams was involved in a very contentious custody battle with his ex-wife over their daughter at the time of his disappearance. He wanted custody of her or to at least be allowed to see her, but his ex-wife objected to this and refused to allow him visitation as ordered by the court. Adams was charged twice with molesting the child, but in neither instance was there enough evidence to take him to trial. The custody matter had been going on for over two years and there was an important hearing about it scheduled in Muskogee County District Court for a few days after Adams vanished. Authorities do not believe the timing was a coincidence.
A few weeks after Adams disappeared, his family received a telephone threat from an unidentified individual who stated that they would be harmed if the investigation into Adams’s disappearance did not end. The caller has not been identified.
Adams resided in the 400 block of east Downing Street in Tahlequah at the time of his disappearance. His case remains unsolved.
Above: Sketch of unidentified man wanted for questioning.
