12/31/97: Ryan Getz, 21, East Lansing, MI

Ryan Getz, a 21-year-old mechanical engineering student at Kettering University in Michigan, was devoted to family and mature beyond his years. He disappeared December 31, 1997 after celebrating New Year’s Eve with friends. Michael Getz, Ryan's father, said his son was "planning on meeting his girlfriend later that night, but he decided to leave his friends and drop by his girlfriend's apartment to see if she had left yet," Michael Getz said. "She was not home and (Ryan) went to see some guys upstairs to call her apartment from there. They were the last ones to see Ryan." According to various reports, Getz was very drunk when he left to pick up his girlfriend.

He was reported missing New Year’s Day after he failed to show up for a family dinner. His body was later found in the Red Cedar River.

Recovery
His body was found three and a half months later snared on a fallen tree in the Red Cedar River behind the Riverside Apartments, in the 1300 block of East Grand River Avenue, by East Lansing. A pathologist told Ryan's parents that between the temperature of the water and the estimated amount of alcohol he drank, he was probably dead within 90 seconds." There is some indication he may have been involved in a fight.

Facts of Interest in this Case
Name/age: Ryan Getz, 21 (from Flint, Michigan)
College: Kettering University (former Michigan State University student)
Physical description: unknown
Last seen: 12/31/97, 10:00 pm, East Lansing, MI
Recovered: 04/18/98, Red Cedar River
Cause of death ruling: drowning and hypothermia
Injuries: possible injuries from a fight
Blood Alcohol Content: unknown, but very high BAC