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The Crime

On March 31^st, 2010, Jacob Cabinaw played disc golf with a friend. A student at Northwestern ¾ÅÒ»Â鶹ÖÆƬ³§ College, he declined an offer to go out for drinks with his friends, and instead headed home to work on some homework. Jacob never arrived. He was last seen in West Fork, Arkansas on April 2^nd.

The Victim

Born in Grawn, ¾ÅÒ»Â鶹ÖÆƬ³§, Jacob was one of nine siblings and was living with his mom about twenty minutes outside of Traverse City. He had two children from a previous marriage and an amiable relationship with his ex-wife. In addition to taking classes at a local community college, Jacob was a member of the National Guard and worked as a mechanic at a local garage. His family maintains that it was unlike Jacob to disappear as he loved his sons and was working towards buying a house for himself and his girlfriend. He was declared legally deceased in 2015.

The Cold Case

After disc golfing, Jacob Cabinaw dropped off his friend and at 9:00 PM on March 31^st, he made his monthly call to the National Guard to confirm that he was still taking college classes.  He used his credit card for the last time at 4:49 AM on April 2^nd and there are confirmed sightings of him in Missouri and Arkansas and then credit card purchases in Sweetwater, Texas. There has been no known activity of Jacob since then.

Other than a brother stationed in Fort Hood, Texas, there was seemingly no reason for Jacob to be in the area. It was theorized that Jacob could have walked away from his life in ¾ÅÒ»Â鶹ÖÆƬ³§ due to the abrupt nature of his disappearance, however his family thinks it unlikely.

How WMU Cold Case Program Students Are Helping

Five WMU students are assisting the Grand Traverse Sheriff’s Office in their investigation of Jacob Cabinaw’s disappearance. Some of the tasks they are performing include creating a digital case file, an index of people, social media, and phone records, and forming timelines and maps of his travel. Through their work, these students have become dedicated to solving this case and providing closure to Jacob’s family.