Jackson County IA Archives News.....Schmidt Alive! Arrest Sought April 6, 1978
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Ken Wright wright@prestontel.com January 22, 2011, 11:44 am

Bellevue Herald-Leader April 6, 1978
Bellevue Herald-Leader, April 6, 1978

SCHMIDT ALIVE!
Arrest sought

Jackson County attorney Tom Peckosh confirmed Tuesday that evidence had been 
found that Leonard Schmidt of Bellevue voluntarily disappeared and was not the 
victim of foul play. Schmidt had been missing since June 1, 1976, when he left 
work at the now defunct Bellevue Ford Company for lunch and never returned. 
Schmidt’s car was discovered the next day abandoned on a gravel road near the 
Mississippi River north of Bellevue. Officials at that time speculated that 
Schmidt had either drowned or fallen victim to foul play. Officials dragged 
the river near there and scoured the woods with blood hounds looking for the 
man or his body. Evidence uncovered at that time indicated that Schmidt had 
left his car and got into another vehicle nearby. That was the last that was 
seen of Schmidt in this area. But according to Peckosh, a recent check of 
Schmidt’s social security records indicated that he had traveled from Iowa to 
California. Peckosh explained that there is a relatively new Federal law that 
under certain circumstances, allows us to get social security information. It 
is connected with tracing down fathers who aren’t supporting their families. 
He said his office took a stab at that and that information was obtained 
indicating that Schmidt’s social security number had been used for a short 
period of time in Roseville, California during the summer of 1976. Roseville 
is near Sacramento in northern California. He was at this one place for a 
couple of weeks Peckosh said. Peckosh stated that to confirm it was Schmidt 
using the social security number, he requested and received a sample of the 
handwriting of the person using the number in California. We sent it to the 
BCI lab and in their opinion it was the same party, he said. But he noted 
that, since that time, no further evidence of Schmidt’s whereabouts has been 
discovered. Peckosh said that the social security evidence was enough to 
convince him that Schmidt was indeed alive and had abandoned his family. On 
the strength of that evidence, Peckosh last week filed charges of desertion 
against Schmidt and a warrant for his arrest was issued Monday. That was the 
first legal action taken against Schmidt. With the warrant on record, should 
Schmidt be arrested in California or even stopped for a routine traffic check 
and recognized, he would be arrested and held for Iowa authorities. Peckosh 
said in an interview Tuesday that he was not interested in punishing Schmidt. 
I’d just really like to get him back for his family, Peckosh said. Under the 
Iowa code section with which Schmidt was charged, he could be sentenced for up 
to one year in the penitentiary or for six months in the county jail. If he 
just pulled stakes it’s a bad deal for the family, Peckosh said. He should 
have at least told them he was leaving.


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