As a child, Joe Pichler starred in films like Varsity Blues and two installments of the Beethoven franchise about a beloved but mischievous Saint Bernard. But as an adult, he became the center of a baffling disappearance case, one that has frustrated authorities for almost two decades.
Pichler, who’d returned to his hometown of Bremerton, Washington, to finish high school, disappeared without a trace in 2006. According to his family, the promising young actor had plans to return to Los Angeles and revive his acting career.
Instead, he simply vanished. But though police suspected at the time that Joe Pichler had died by suicide, his family believes that foul play may have been involved.