December 5, 2003

12/05/03: Gordon Stumlin, 37, La Crosse, WI

At 6 p.m., on 12/05/03, Gordon J. Stumlin, Jr., 37, called the woman who helped raise him, Belva White, from a local laundromat. He said he was in trouble. Stumlin had a history of schizophrenia and substance abuse. At first he was thought to have driven to Las Vegas, but his body turned up in the Mississippi River on 06/06/04 near the Pettibone Resort. His death is not not considered suspicious and police believe it is suicide.

An autopsy, conducted Monday, June 7, 2004 did not find any trauma or injury to the body. It also revealed that the body may have been in the water since his disappearance in December.

Stumlin disappeared exactly one year after a good friend of his died. He had met the friend, named Dan, while he was living in Harmony Home. "He desperately tried to convince people that Dan was going to jump from Grandad Bluff. On Dec. 5 2002, Dan died. They found him on the side of Grandad Bluff."

Facts of Interest:
Name/age: Gordon Stumlin, 37
Last seen: 12/5/03, La Crosse, WI
Recorded: 6/6/04, Mississippi River
Survived by: mother Norma Jean Stumlin of Onalaska, WI; brother John Stumlin of La Crosse, WI; brother Daniel Stumlin of Madison, WI

Sources:
http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2004/06/13/mattjames/james13.txt
http://books.google.com/books?id=fIPEYWRjjZ4C&printsec=frontcover

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Poor Gordon. Something about the phone call and what he said bothers me. "I'm in trouble" doesn't sound like a suicidal statement from a schizophrenic to me. Do we know what kind he had? To me it sounds more sad, like he needed help, like he wanted to go home or something and needed money to get there. I guess to me it has echos of that one guy who was hiding in the bushes and called his friend to say he was scared and someone was chasing him. I just wonder. I know that with a diagnosis like this, the person isn't taken as seriously, and the easiest answer is usually given without little thought to the truth of the situation. Does that make sense? I wonder if the detectives in NY would look over Gordon's file. I just wish someone would notice this poor man. Somebody must know something.