Kenneth Michael Plaisted, age 48, was last seen in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on November 16, 1971.
Kenneth was an attorney who resided in New Holstein, Wisconsin and was the father of six children.
On the day of his disappearance, Kenneth and his wife traveled to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He dropped his wife off to do some shopping, while he attended a business meeting at the Plankinton building on Wisconsin Avenue. He had plans to pick up his daughter at noon, after the meeting, and would pick his wife up at a department store. From there, the three were going to look for a car for his daughter.
It has been confirmed that Kenneth was present for the meeting, and he was seen at a convenience store shortly before he was supposed to meet his daughter. However, he never arrived at his daughter’s home at North 14th St and West State St. When noon came and went with no word from her father, his daughter looked out the window and noticed Kenneth’s car parked at the curb. However, Kenneth was not inside the vehicle and he has never been seen or heard from again.
Upon seeing the vehicle, his daughter went outside and found the doors unlocked, windows rolled down, and a glove box that was open and appeared to be rifled through. His hat was found crushed in a nearby gutter.
It was reportedly discovered after his disappearance that $65,000 was missing from a trust account that Kenneth was responsible for in his capacity as an attorney. It was learned that Kenneth had “borrowed” the funds to cover personal expenses, as he’d left an IOU at the bank.
It appears that the money was already spent by the time Kenneth vanished, leading investigators to dismiss the theory that he’d intentionally disappeared with the money.
At some point after his disappearance, investigators received a letter from one of Kenneth’s former clients, Paul Ganchoff, of Oak Creek. The letter pointed authorities to a newspaper ad out of Tampa, Florida, that indicated Kenneth was looking for a place to live. The ad listed Kenneth’s address as PO Box 173, Parcel Post Station, Milford, Connecticut.
I know nothing about Paul Ganchoff, other than his residence at the time the letter was sent, and that he was a past client of Kenneth’s. However, I find it odd that in 1971, a Wisconsin resident happened to be reading the classified ads in a Florida newspaper at the exact time his former lawyer ran an ad. To me, it seems unlikely enough that I wonder if Mr. Ganchoff placed the ad himself, to throw off the police. It’s also worth noting that there was another Kenneth Plaisted with ties to Maine and New Hampshire, so even if the ad was genuine, a Connecticut PO Box may have belonged to that Kenneth.
Kenneth’s son believes a former associate of Kenneth may be responsible for his disappearance, as the two had been involved in a bitter dispute. It’s not known whether Paul Ganchoff was that associate. While it has been confirmed that this associate was in Milwaukee that day, it isn’t known whether he had any connection to the meeting Kenneth attended. As far as I can tell, this would be the only way the associate would have known that Kenneth was in Milwaukee that day. I almost think he would have had to follow Kenneth to his daughter’s home; how else would he have known where she lived, for his car to end up where it did?
For a moment, I was intrigued by a mention of two brothers, for whom Kenneth was the court appointed attorney on a burglary charge. Apparently, they were scheduled to appear in court at 3:00pm on the same day to receive their sentences. Apparently, one of the brothers escaped from jail earlier that morning, but hadn’t been located yet as of the early coverage of Kenneth’s disappearance. .
The fact that this situation with the two brothers was mentioned in an article about Kenneth’s disappearance initially made me think that one of them may have been the associate that Kenneth’s son was referring to; however there are a couple problems with this idea. The first, is that if the escaped brother hadn’t yet been located, it wouldn’t really fit with an associate who was known to be in Milwaukee that day. Even if he was in Milwaukee, he probably wouldn’t have known where Kenneth would be. Additionally, I don’t think they would qualify as “former associate” since he was still representing them at the time. Another thing I find odd is that if his clients had a sentencing hearing at 3:00pm, why would Kenneth be heading to his daughter’s with plans to go car shopping at 1:00pm?
Many have speculated that Kenneth could have been the mysterious DB Cooper, who jumped from an airplane with a large sum of money, eight days after Kenneth vanished. The true identity of DB Cooper has never been determined. There were also potential sightings of him from South America to Europe, and all over the U.S., but none were ever verified.
Kenneth was declared legally dead in 1979. Several claims were made against his estate; most related to the missing trust assets. However, a small claim for less than $20 was said to be for a passport photo sitting, indicating he may have indeed left the country.
His family believes he met with foul play. He has several children who still seek answers.
Sources:
The Charley Project
Websleuths
Newspapers.com
Whereabouts Still Unknown 