Two years later, police say they have few leads on Brendt Rozelle

By JACK MORAN
Mail Tribune

It’s been two years since her big brother vanished, and still Jodie Kramer won’t give up hope.

"A lot of time has gone by, but he could still be out there somewhere," said Kramer, of Portland.

Her brother, Brendt Rozelle of Medford, was 36 when he disappeared from his Lynnwood Avenue home on May 29, 2002. Family members haven’t heard from him since, but that doesn’t mean they’ve stopped looking for answers.

The family recently decided to offer a reward for information that helps them locate Rozelle or leads to the arrest of people involved in his disappearance.

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"There are about a hundred different scenarios for what might have happened," Kramer said. "If there is foul play involved, there are definitely people out there who know. We will always have hope, but it’s so hard not to know what happened."

Kramer and her family aren’t the only ones still searching for clues in Rozelle’s disappearance.

Detective Terry Newell said he keeps Rozelle’s case file on his desk and won’t put it away until the investigation is complete. Two weeks ago, Medford police detectives traveled to Klamath Falls to interview people known to Rozelle.

"We don’t close any avenues," Newell said. "It doesn’t make sense for a reasonable young adult to disappear without a trace. He vanished under suspicious circumstances, and we are making a valiant effort to locate him."

When Rozelle disappeared, it was believed he might have headed to Porterville, Calif., to discuss his father’s estate with an attorney. His father died in April 2002 and left Rozelle a large amount of money and property, Kramer said. But relatives said he never made it to Porterville.

Informants told investigators that Rozelle was involved in narcotics trafficking between Medford and California, and detectives uncovered evidence of a marijuana-growing operation in Rozelle’s home. Police have said that if the disappearance is drug-related, it is unlikely others involved in the drug trade would come forward to offer information.

Rozelle’s family is hoping a "substantial" reward might induce someone to reveal what happened to the Medford man, Kramer said. The family has not yet decided exactly how much to offer, she said.

Anyone with tips can send an e-mail to sungirl17jk@hotmail.com.

The investigation took an unexpected turn last year when Rozelle’s mother, Cheryl Gobel, was charged with forging his will. Jackson County prosecutors dismissed the case in December, according to court records.

Reach reporter Jack Moran at 776-4459, or e-mail jmoran@mailtribune.com.