Photo courtesy of NamUs.

COURT HOUSE - It’s been a year since anyone has seen 25-year-old Samuel Schmucker. The Middle Township resident went missing Jan. 5, 2011.

The County Prosecutor¹s Office, along with Township Police are again seeking the public’s assistance in helping to find him.

“There’s a lot of speculation that he’s here in Ohio with family,” his twin sister Laura Wiatrowski told the Herald. “But he’s not.”

Schmucker seems to have fallen off the face of the earth that cold evening last January. According to police reports, Schmucker was last seen approximately 11 p.m. the evening of Jan. 5 when he was reported to havebeen a passenger in the car of his roommate. An argument ensued and Schmucker allegedly got out of the vehicle, walking toward Route 47 on
Bayshore Road.

“He literally got into a disagreement with his roommate,” his sister said,“got out of the car and was never seen again.”

According to Wiatrowski, the family moved to Ohio several years ago. Schmucker stayed behind in Cape May County to “finish out his legal issues.” She explained that her brother had had previous issues with the law but he had paid his debt.

Schmucker had a job and had a child. “He’s a son and a brother,” his sister said. Schmucker is the father of a daughter, now five. His twin sister is the mother of a son, Lucas, 4.

“He named his daughter Laura, after me,” said Wiatrowski, his older sister by 45 minutes. She noted her brother had both his daughter’s name as well as his nephew’s name tattooed on his arms.

At the time of his disappearance, large-scale searches were done utilizing helicopters, boats and personnel on the ground with ATVs and K9 units throughout Middle and Lower Townships. Both the Middle Township Police Department, as well as the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office continue to actively investigate Schmucker’s disappearance. His DNA has been entered into a national database and the circumstances surrounding Schmucker’s disappearance has been added to the National Missing and Unidentified System (NamUS), as well as the Violent Crime Apprehension Program (VICAP) as a missing person.

Wiatrowski commended the work police have done in searching for her missing twin. “The police took it seriously,” she said.

“They’ve done a lot,” said Todd Matthews, a spokesman for NamUs told the Herald. “They’ve done all their homework, now they just have to wait.

How much longer do they have to wait, however? “We don’t know where he is,” said his sister. “We want to know where he is. We’d go to the moon to get him.”

“I want him to know that if he reaches out through Facebook, I will come help him,” said Wiatrowski when asked what she’d like her brother to know. “I want him to know his family loves him and we want him to be happy and have the life he wants to have.”

According to police Schmucker was last seen wearing a camouflage jump suit, black hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, plain black t-shirt and brown boots.

Anyone with information regarding Schmucker’s disappearance is urged to call Middle Township Police at 609-465-8700, the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Major Crimes Unit at 609-465-1135, or Cape May County Crimestoppers at 609-465-2800.