Missing man gone for almost a year
December 7, 2007
Bradley Olsen’s family has to celebrate another holiday without him.
Olsen, 27, of Maple Park, was last seen in the early morning Jan. 20 at Bar One, 1000 W. Lincoln Highway, trying to find a ride home. He has not been seen or heard from since.
Olsen’s last outgoing call on his cell phone was on Jan. 20., and he was last seen wearing a brown leather jacket, a black dress shirt, blue jeans and new black boots, according to a Northern Star article published Feb. 9.
The DeKalb Police Department is actively investigating the case, said Lt. Gary Spangler of the DeKalb Police Department. Olsen’s family has organized a lot of ground searches that DeKalb police have participated in, and interviews are still being conducted for the investigation, Spangler said.
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,” he said. “Generally the longer a person is missing, the more chance it is going to be foul play involved.”
At the community building in Maple Park, Olsen’s family decorated a tree in his memory, said Susan Olsen, Bradley Olsen’s mother.
Susan Olsen said the family is always looking for Olsen and performed a search two weekends ago. The family is constantly asking people in rural areas to look over abandoned buildings, creeks and wooded areas, she said.
“We’re soon approaching 11 months since he’s been missing. We’ve gone through every holiday now except Christmas, it’s been really hard,” she said. “Brad has a 7-year-old daughter that misses him a lot.”
The case will stay open until Olsen is located, Spangler said.
Anyone with information on Olsen’s location is encouraged to call the DeKalb Police Department at 815-748-8400, or the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office at 815-895-2155.
A $50,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to the finding of Bradley Olsen, according to a missing person flyer at the DeKalb Police Department.