Jacob Cabinaw 31, missing March 31, 2010, Traverse City, Michigan

[MuffyBee]

Per a friend of his and a facebook message.
This person believes the police have opened an investigation
Doesn't know of an aeriel search of the area
The public has been asked to report seeing any vehicals that day which may have been stalled.
Doesn't believe he stopped anywhere at least a store since he says they went together before he was dropped off. END

Well that was helpful, thank you if you are reading this.

So this texas thing with the card. I know friends and family will get upset at this question, but could it be drug related? that is a question that needs to be answered. It doesn't mean they got the right person, that has happened before.

Texas is far from Michigan, kwim? Who would go there unless you are traveling to Mexico?  Unless this person may have ties to Texas. (or to Mexico). It seems sort of hollywood to commit a crime then go to Mexico to hide out. What kind of crime did they commit? It is very uncommon to rob someone and head off to Mexico, must of been something bigger then that. Sounds to me a possibility could be a person needed a car to get out of dodge. If this is the case I would think a larger crime was commited somewhere.  Wonder if the car was dumped somewhere between Mich and Texas? Or if another person is missing long the way within the days between? In any case, I hope this case is getting attention in Texas and boarder control was notified although I am not sure if the police responded to the card? I hope so. 

(Bolded by me)

There are a lot of reasons a person would go to Texas, and one of the last imo would be to go to Mexico.  You see, Texas is a very big place.  There have been a lot of people coming to Texas for work, because this state hasn't been hit as hard as many other states as far as unemployment and such.  Many people can come and blend in and find work and places to live.  There are some large cities, such as Houston or Dallas or even San Antonio where there is still work to be found and there are a lot of agricultural and season jobs also.  Because the climate in some areas of Texas tend to be more temperate than the north, we have a lot of people that come to Texas and are able to live with very little to get by.  The economy is still holding and that can be a big factor in why people would come to Texas.  That, and you can basically get lost here if you choose.  jmho.

[klaasend]

Maybe a family member can call TES and see if they can help search for him.  Especially if his debit card was used in Texas.

http://texasequusearch.org/

[Wyks]

The ex-fatherinlaw has an update:

The first attempt to use his card was in the San Antonio area. Not sure about the second, other than it was south of SA.

http://www.trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1941356/HELP_Family_member_gone_missin.html

[Wyks]

http://ipr.interlochen.org/ipr-news-features/episode/7267

04/08/2010

The family of a man from Grawn missing for more than a week is asking for help.

Jake Cabinaw is 31 years old, a father of two, who disappeared after work last Wednesday night.

"He got out of work and played Frisbee golf with a friend of his, dropped him off and then was heading home after that to study," his sister, Sara Brown, says Cabinaw wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary that night.

No one has seen or heard from him since.

Brown says an overdraft notice shows her brother's bank card was used in Texas earlier this week.

Cabinaw is a mechanic who's taking classes at Northwestern Michigan College. He also serves with the National Guard and is a member of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.

The family is asking anyone with information to contact the Grand Traverse County Sheriff.

A Sheriff's officer says there's no evidence of foul play, but they've  sent out national notices with descriptions of Cabinaw and his car.

[Wyks]

Do they happen to know when his cell phone was used last?  Is the cell phone provider able to help by locating his phone even though it may be off?  I know ATT did this type of search in the Chelsea King case.

Someone at WS has been in touch with his gf, who checked his cell phone records.  Gf said that he did make a call at 1AM to the VA to renew his GI Bill funding (has to be done every month, on the first after midnight).  And from what it sounds like that was the last time his phone was used. 

http://websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5027375
post #3, dated today at 9.29 am

[Wyks]

Since he is a member of the national guard, and is to report for duty this coming weekend (and will be considered AWOL if he doesn't show)... am thinking the national guard will likely be getting involved in the search for him.   

[Northern Rose]

Officials Search For Missing Father

GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY -- The Cabinaw family has not heard from their son in more than a week, and they are beginning to fear for the worst.

Jacob Cabinaw, 31, was last seen in downtown Traverse City on the evening of March 31.

Family members said he was supposed to head home towards Grawn, but Cabinaw never arrived home that night.

“I never heard from him. I was waiting and waiting. Then by 8 p.m. I actually drove by his house and didn’t see his car there. I knew something was not right. I usually hear from him everyday,” said Tasha Stewart, Cabinaw’s girlfriend.

Cabinaw is a member of the U.S. National Guard and has two children.

He has also worked at Dave’s Garage in Traverse City for almost three years. His boss, David Karczewski, is saddened by his disappearance.

“I miss him…He just has a great attitude about life. He is not a down-in-the-dumps kind of guy,” Karczewski said.

For now, investigators have very little to work with. However, the family has learned that Cabinaw’s credit card was used twice in the state of Texas. It is not clear if he was the one using it.

Cabinaw was last seen in his work cloths, which consist of a grey jacket, grey pants and brown work boots. He drives a 2003 silver Chevy Malibu that has a damaged panel on the front passenger side.

If you think you have seen him, you are asked to call the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office (231-995-5000).

http://www.upnorthlive.com/news/story.aspx?id=441250

[Tracygirl]

Muffy, I love texas, please don't think I was saying "who on earth would go to a place like Texas", I meant, who would go to Texas if they came from MI meaning the distance between the two. lol. Sorry I hope I didn't offend any Texans!

Thank you for taking a look everyone! Do you all get the feeling foul play is involved?

[Tracygirl]

Since he is a member of the national guard, and is to report for duty this coming weekend (and will be considered AWOL if he doesn't show)... am thinking the national guard will likely be getting involved in the search for him.   

I hope so...To me it seems like he is not the kind of person to just up and leave. He has a good job, school, 2 children, friends....

[MuffyBee]

Muffy, I love texas, please don't think I was saying "who on earth would go to a place like Texas", I meant, who would go to Texas if they came from MI meaning the distance between the two. lol. Sorry I hope I didn't offend any Texans!

Thank you for taking a look everyone! Do you all get the feeling foul play is involved?

No worries.  The distance between MI and Texas would be about 1400 miles, which could be driven in a couple of days.  Not that big a deal,  really.  I looked at Google Maps, and it said 1370 miles from N. Michigan to Abilene, drive time 1 day and 1 hour driving on I44 W.   That would be driving straight through all day and all night.  Tough to do if you're alone.  My folks used to take about 2 and a half days to make the drive, because they would stop and sleep.  But I agree, it's a long way...

[Tracygirl]

I reported it to a mod, they will do whatever they need to.


Edit:   Per labubske's request  I've  removed the two posts that were posted in error.   MuffyBee 

[Missiontoconvict]

Do they happen to know when his cell phone was used last?  Is the cell phone provider able to help by locating his phone even though it may be off?  I know ATT did this type of search in the Chelsea King case.

Someone at WS has been in touch with his gf, who checked his cell phone records.  Gf said that he did make a call at 1AM to the VA to renew his GI Bill funding (has to be done every month, on the first after midnight).  And from what it sounds like that was the last time his phone was used. 

http://websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5027375
post #3, dated today at 9.29 am

Thank you Wyks. Not sure how the renewal of GI funding works, do they deposit funds to his account, mail a check or pay the school? If the funds are deposited into his account I wonder how soon that would have happened because the one article says that someone used his card and it overdrew his account, wonder how much the purchase was for and where? If these funds are paid directly to the school it sure doesn't seem like he would renew if he planned on taking off.  So many questions.

[Missiontoconvict]

Officials Search For Missing Father

GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY -- The Cabinaw family has not heard from their son in more than a week, and they are beginning to fear for the worst.

Jacob Cabinaw, 31, was last seen in downtown Traverse City on the evening of March 31.

Family members said he was supposed to head home towards Grawn, but Cabinaw never arrived home that night.

“I never heard from him. I was waiting and waiting. Then by 8 p.m. I actually drove by his house and didn’t see his car there. I knew something was not right. I usually hear from him everyday,” said Tasha Stewart, Cabinaw’s girlfriend.

Cabinaw is a member of the U.S. National Guard and has two children.

He has also worked at Dave’s Garage in Traverse City for almost three years. His boss, David Karczewski, is saddened by his disappearance.

“I miss him…He just has a great attitude about life. He is not a down-in-the-dumps kind of guy,” Karczewski said.

For now, investigators have very little to work with. However, the family has learned that Cabinaw’s credit card was used twice in the state of Texas. It is not clear if he was the one using it.

Cabinaw was last seen in his work cloths, which consist of a grey jacket, grey pants and brown work boots. He drives a 2003 silver Chevy Malibu that has a damaged panel on the front passenger side.

If you think you have seen him, you are asked to call the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office (231-995-5000).

http://www.upnorthlive.com/news/story.aspx?id=441250

Was she trying to reach him by calling his cell phone and no answer?  She then drives to his house and he is not there but yet he used his phone at 1am to renew his GI funding.....why if she tried to call him wasn't he answering yet was able to use the phone at 1 am?

[Northern Rose]

Deputies search for missing man

Jacob Cabinaw disappeared last week


GRAWN -- The first major lead into an area man's disappearance came from a gas station more than 1,000 miles away.

Grand Traverse sheriff's deputies continue to search for Jacob "Jake" Cabinaw, 31, of Grawn, who disappeared last week after a game of disc golf with a friend.

But Cabinaw's family received an insufficient funds notice after two purchases were made on his bank card last weekend at a gas station in Fort Worth, Texas, and a convenience store in Sweetwater, Texas. Cabinaw's bank card has overdraft coverage, so even though he may not have sufficient funds to purchase an item, a minimal transaction will go through.

"That sparked my interest," said sheriff's Lt. Jim MacKinnon.

Authorities will continue to pursue the lead, and look into whether surveillance cameras recorded the individual who used Cabinaw's bank card last weekend.

The only tie Cabinaw has to the Lone Star State is his brother, who's stationed at Fort Hood.

"It does give us a little more hope if they can find the card and who has it," said Sara Brown, Cabinaw's sister. "If it is Jake, great. If it isn't, hopefully they can tell us why they have it."

Cabinaw dropped off his friend at the Open Space in Traverse City around 7:30 p.m. on March 31. They'd just finished a game of disc golf, and Cabinaw told his friend he had to return home to study.

But Cabinaw never returned to the Grawn house he shared with his mother. His girlfriend reported Cabinaw's disappearance to authorities last weekend.

Brown also checked her brother's recent phone records, and said he has yet to make a call since his disappearance.

"This is very unlike him," she said. "Anytime he's got to go out and do something, he informs somebody. We know that he didn't take anything with him because his phone charger is at home."

Cabinaw last was seen in his work uniform, behind the wheel of his 2002 silver Chevrolet Malibu. Family members distributed posters throughout the community with pictures of Cabinaw in hopes someone will come forward with information.

He studied technical science at Northwestern Michigan College, and worked at Dave's Garage in Traverse City.

http://www.record-eagle.com/local/local_story_099071719.html

[Northern Rose]

A Traverse City, MI
B Forth Worth, TX
C Sweetwater, TX
D Fort Hood, TX

I don't think he was going to Fort Hood to see his brother.

[Wyks]

<snipped>

But Cabinaw's family received an insufficient funds notice after two purchases were made on his bank card last weekend at a gas station in Fort Worth, Texas, and a convenience store in Sweetwater, Texas. Cabinaw's bank card has overdraft coverage, so even though he may not have sufficient funds to purchase an item, a minimal transaction will go through.

http://www.record-eagle.com/local/local_story_099071719.html

I think it's odd that the ex-fatherinlaw updated with the info below, which doesn't match the info from the article above.  Unless this is another example of info getting jumbled up by media etc in the beginning of a case?   

~~~

The ex-fatherinlaw has an update:

"The first attempt to use his card was in the San Antonio area. Not sure about the second, other than it was south of SA."

http://www.trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1941356/HELP_Family_member_gone_missin.html

[Wyks]

Looking at that map, seems like whoever was using the bank card could have been making a beeline for Mexico.  I gotta look up El Paso on another map, cuz that's one crossing point in Texas, wonder how close that is in comparison to where the bank card was used. 

[Tracygirl]

there has to be video of the transactions. They should know if it was him or somone else using the card and it should show what car the gas was purchased for. Has the brother been contacted and asked if jacob was on his way for a visit? These are very easy answers to get, I hope they have them.

I don't think it make any sense, he would, on a whim and without telling anyone he was going to texas to visit his brother to just take off. But lets pretend he did, was the card used before these transactions? If not, then can his car go 1000 miles before filling up again? Did he normally carry large amounts of cash? Did he pull cash out after transfering funds? Banks have video of people at ATM's, did they find one? Did he normally transfer the funds right away, on the phone like that? That seems like an odd thing to do. Wouldn't most people wait until the morning time, right? Was he told to do that? All of these questions surrounding this case have pretty easy answers, LE should have those answers by now I would think.     

[Wyks]

Ok I looked up El Paso, it's over there to the southwest by Juarez.  The line on that map above is heading directly for it, from MI.  The 2 stops with the bank card is along that beeline route to Mexico, (not including the last turnoff to Ft. Hood). 
 

[Wyks]

Good questions, TG!  Maybe someone will come forward with some answers soon. 

Only thing I can figure is... from all that we've heard so far about Jacob, this doesn't sound like him at all, to up and leave with no word to anyone.  Plus he will be AWOL tomorrow with the National Guard, and that doesn't seem to be in his character, cuz that's a very serious no-no.  IMO. 

So what's left? 

Maybe he was car-jacked and robbed?  Maybe he didn't have $ on him, but told the possible car-jackers/kidnappers/murderers that he was expecting funds soon, and they made him place that call for his GI funds?  Then he could have been killed afterward, atm card used later in thinking those GI funds would have immediately been placed into the acct (but they obviously weren't yet, so they tried again later?). 

I dunno... just some brainstorming. 

In the meantime.. where's Jacob?