Police are investigating a bizarre case of a missing Mesa man. Jonas Richert, a 21-year-old German immigrant, was last seen Thursday night by his fiancee’s mom, who dropped him off for work near the Target at Power and McKellips roads.
But Richert’s fiancee, Simone Fromme, said Richert actually works a few miles away from that spot at a FedEX distribution center on Higley and Brown roads.
“Jonas has a very good sense of direction. I’m just afraid someone robbed or kidnapped him,” Fromme said.
Police describe Richert as 6-foot-1 and weighing 170 pounds. He has blond hair and blue eyes and was last seen wearing a large green jacket with jeans. He also has a heavy German accent.
Fromme’s mother, Petra, said that Richert seemed confused when he gave her directions to his workplace, and she wondered whether a recent car accident was a factor.
Richert crashed his parents’ car Wednesday night just north of Roosevelt Lake. Petra Fromme worries he may have suffered a head injury.
Richert swerved off the road and flipped the car off a ledge, but didn’t go to the hospital. He didn’t complain of any injuries.
“He was confused. But he talked about the accident like everything was OK,” Petra Fromme said.
The day before the crash, Richert left a letter, written in German to his pregnant fiancee.
In it, he wrote about how much he loved Simone Fromme and said “the baby would be something to remember him by.”
Police said they are struggling to find clues.
They haven’t been able to verify Richert’s employment because the family doesn’t have any pay stubs or phone numbers for his job.
“It makes it real hard to follow up on anything,” police spokeswoman Holly Hosac said.
Simone Fromme is optimistic and thinks maybe Richert was just stressed and needed to get away for a couple of days.
“I hope he comes back,” she said.
