January 20, 2007

01/20/07: Brad Olsen, 26, DeKalb, IL

Bradley Olsen is missing.

Brad Olsen
MISSING SINCE 1/20/07
Bradley Olsen, 26, was last seen looking for a ride home from a bar in DeKalb, IL at 2:25 a.m. He has not been seen or heard from since, and investigators have found little information about what happened to him.

Olsen's friends had picked him up on Jan. 19 at the Maple Park, IL home he shared with his parents. After a night on the town at Bar One in DeKalb (1000 W. Lincoln Hwy), his friends--a married couple, his mother recalled--left early while Olsen stayed behind. At closing time, he called a friend for a ride home. (He last used his cell phone at 2:24 a.m., police said.) The friend was unable to pick him up. The last anyone remembers seeing him was about 2:25 a.m. on Jan. 20 when he was trying to find a ride home. It was a very cold night, with temperatures dipping close to zero degrees Fahrenheit. He is still missing. As of now, police have no new leads on his whereabouts.

Something has definitely happened to him because he lived here with us,” his mother, Sue Olsen said. “There was never a 48-hour period where we didn't know where Brad was. Even whenever we would go out of town, he'd always call.”

Sue and Bill describe Brad as an active sports fan “who lived every day to the fullest.” He enjoyed playing soccer, football and baseball while growing up in Maple Park. After graduating Kaneland High School, he worked in a construction business with his brother.“ Bill comes from a very large family right here in Maple Park,” Sue Olsen said. “He had a lot of cousins, four (of them) the same age. We have a pretty tight-knit family.” Brad also has a 7-year old daughter who "misses him a lot."


The Search

About 325 people searched DeKalb County on March 19 for Brad. Volunteers used planes, all-terrain vehicles, horses and canoes to scour the county, while focusing on an area in which Brad's cell phone signal relayed off two towers. The Olsens hired a helicopter for the search. Maple Park Fire Chief Kevin Peterson coordinated the search using grids that arranged volunteers in a way that covered most of DeKalb County, his father, Bill Olsen, said. Many of the people who came did not know the Olsens before learning about Brad's disappearance. Brad Olsen has not been found.

According to the Northern Star Online, the DeKalb Police Department is still actively investigating the case, said Lt. Gary Spangler of the DeKalb Police Department. Spangler said foul play is potentially involved based on the time Olsen has been missing.

“If he went somewhere voluntarily, chances are we would have gotten some information that he was okay,” said Spangler. “Generally the longer a person is missing, the more chance it is going to be foul play involved.”

Several people have been given polygraphs in the case, but no one has been named a suspect.

Olsen was legally declared dead in 2010, but Lt. Spangler has said that the case will stay open until Olsen is located.

Anyone with information on Olsen’s location should call the DeKalb Police Department at 815-748-8400 or Crime Stoppers at 815-895-3272.



Case Details

Name/age: Bradley P. Olsen
Hometown: Maple Park, IL
Status: Missing
Last seen: 01/20/07 at Bar One, 1000 W. Lincoln Hwy, DeKalb, IL
Physical Description: White male, 68 inches (5'8"), 175 pounds, brown hair, blue eyes, medium complexion. He was last seen wearing a brown leather jacket, a black dress shirt, blue jeans and new black boots. Brad has a tattoo of a palm tree on his left ankle, and a tattoo of a sun on his back.
Investigating Agency: DeKalb Police Department, 815-748-8400

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Brad Olsen case is one example of the killers' m.o.: trolling. Of course, you don't need to brainstorm to figure this one out. Brad probably resisted, resulting in the physical trauma to his body that necessitated those special measures taken to keep his remains hidden from authorities--otherwise instant police investigation, a nexus of such abduction/killings quickly established and a nation-wide hunt commenced for the murderers. Not good, if you like the game and need to preserve the basic initiation/rite methodology for acquiring future recruits for your organization.

Speaking of missing young men who were likely traumatized and killed, consider that most revealing case of Scott Javins. Scott went missing in 2002 in Indiana, after attending a party. Apparently, he had taken his car with him. When Scott is abducted, his abductors quickly learn (or already knew) he has a car. No problem, if Scott can be controlled, drugged and quietly dumped into the Wabash River. But Scott resists, is shot or beaten, and subsequently killed. What to do now? The killers have a problem. If Scott is simply buried or otherwise disposed of, there is still the car to consider. Would Scott simply abandon his car and disappear? No. Must get rid of the car. But if the car is sunk in the Wabash River without Scott, it suggests foul play. If nothing is done about it, and it is found where it has been left, this also suggests foul play. In either case you get an instant homicide investigation. This is not good, if there's something wrong with your joy stick and you don't intend to fix it. I mean what's joy without pain and suffering, right? You figure. Anyway, all this means is that Scott must disappear with his car as part of a desperate attempt to make his death look like an accident. It's a gamble, but with the car in play there's no other option. Buy time, fool the police--maybe. Maybe not. As it turned out, their efforts failed. Car and Scott were discovered, foul play was suspected. Bingo! Instant police investigation, albeit commenced five and a half years after the fact. And yet the killers still got the time they need to avoid detection, with no smileys, no evidence to worry about, and most importantly, no connection to the other deaths. Your site, in fact, missed the Javins case altogether. In my view, it's one of the most important of all. It reveals the way the killers think in a rare downside moment when things go wrong.

All things considered, the killers appear to be a sophisticated group, having the benefit of official mentorship, logistics and other kinds of support a criminal gang rarely has at its disposal.

Anonymous said...

Hi, I provided a lead to both the Dekalb police and Detective Zeigler. They never followed up. This is very disappointing. I even sent copies of the letters I sent to the attorney holding the reward money. I still did not receive any contact back. I spoke to Brad Olsen in September '06. It was a random meeting I was out looking for my cat and he was down by the edge of a lake waiting for a friend. I believe the police need to dive this lake for his body. He mentioned the other guy did not want anybody to know they went to this spot. Anyway, I have have now moved from Sycamore and am contemplating approaching the state police to look in this lake. It is very upsetting that this case could have been solved a year ago. It does not inspire confidence in the local law enforcement.

Margaret A. McCarty

Anonymous said...

I'm just curious, in what context did he mention that the other person did not want anyone to know they were at this spot? How did that come up in conversation? Just curious...

Anonymous said...

Anonymous,

Thank you for your comments. Back in 2002, if I recall, news reports only said Scott Javins had gone missing after leaving a friend's house. And he had his car with him, which was not typical of the majority of these cases. Not enough information was known, so I opted not to include the case. (Remember this was also before the possibility of a smiley face killer.) Detailed reports about the Javins case were released after he was found, and it was only then that the case appeared to be more similar to the others than first thought.

Anonymous said...

In DeKalb (somewhere b/n the evening of Thurs. May 7 - morning of Fri. May 8) a double sided missing billboard of Brad Olsen was stolen.

Susan Olsen, mother of Brad, also says the wooden postings to hold up the signs were damaged.

Here is the article:

http://www.daily-chronicle.com/articles/2009/05/08/53693559/index.xml

Anonymous said...

Update on Bradley Olsen:

http://www.kcchronicle.com/articles/2009/10/15/32733190/index.xml


Sue Olsen, mother of Brad Olsen, is requesting a certificate of death for her son. Brad has been a missing person since January 20 2007. He was last seen trying to leave Bar One in Dekalb. Normally IL requires a seven year wait til a death certificate can be issued.

Also:

"The case remains an ongoing HOMICIDE investigation."