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Authorities ask public's help in missing man case
On the 20th anniversary of the disappearance of a New York State man in a remote part of the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest near Draper, the Sawyer County Sheriff’s Office seeks the public’s help to try to find out what happened.
Andrew J. Bliss, 23, has been missing since June 20, 2003, when his gray 2001 Chevrolet Impala was found abandoned on the side of Forest Road 162, 1.9 miles north of State Hwy. 70, about six miles east of the Price/Sawyer County border and six miles south of the Ashland County line.
A person informed the sheriff’s department they noticed the vehicle at 8 a.m. on their way to work. They also saw someone hiking or walking in the vicinity. On their way home from work around 5 p.m., the caller noticed the car was still there.
Sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene and determined that the car belonged to Andrew Bliss. The car doors were open, the keys were in the ignition and the vehicle was out of gas.
Sheriff’s personnel, Sawyer County Search and Rescue volunteers and the county SWAT team assisted in a search, but Bliss was not located despite many search efforts.
According to a July 2, 2003, article in the Sawyer County Record, “No clues have been found to explain (Bliss’) disappearance. Sheriff James Meier said searchers came up with virtually nothing. Area cabins were canvassed, but nothing out of the ordinary was found. Nothing was found in or around the vehicle.”
Officers learned that New York authorities had filed an endangered missing person report concerning Bliss on June 23, 2003. He had recently quit his job in New York and was depressed over a recent break-up. No destination or time of return was listed for him.
On June 24, 2003, an extensive aerial and ground search was conducted for Bliss by the sheriff’s department, assisted by the Sawyer County Fire Association, three K-9 dogs provided by United Search and Rescue out of Luck Wisconsin and two planes from the Wisconsin Civil Air Patrol.
On June 25, 2003, searchers scoured a desolate swampy eight-mile section of the national forest. They searched all logging roads up to the Ashland County line. The next day, the Ashland County Sheriff’s Department took over the search, scouring their area with four-wheelers.
“There are still unanswered questions as to what happened that day,” said Sheriff Doug Mrotek. If anyone has information as to what happened or new information, they are asked to call the sheriff’s office at 715-634-4858.
