Missing Person / NamUs #MP93446
James Scott Rawlings, Male, White / Caucasian
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Missing Age - 23 Years
First Name - James
Middle Name - Scott
Last Name - Rawlings
Nickname/Alias - James Arwigs
Sex - Male
Height - 5' 10" (70 Inches)
Weight - 150 lbs
Race / Ethnicity - White / Caucasian
Date of Last Contact - March 8, 1986
Hair Color - Sandy
Eye Color - Hazel (required glasses to see)
Distinctive Physical Features - scar on forehead. small birthmark on forehead, may have a wolf head tattoo on his chest, left-handed, dimples in cheeks when smiling
Last Known Location Map
Location - Mercer, Wisconsin
County - Iron County
Missing From Tribal Land - No
Circumstances of Disappearance - On March 8, 1986, Jim drove from Kenosha, possibly heading to Alaska. The car he was driving was found in a snow bank on the side of the road in Mercer WI. The keys were not with the vehicle. No one knows what happened to Jim from there.
*CLICK THE REPORT BUTTON IF YOU'D LIKE THIS CASE MOVED TO THE GENERAL DISCUSSION AREA TO BE OPENED FOR COMMENTING.
Iron County is way on the northern border of WI and to the east of like the Duluth, Superior and Ashland and Bayfield areas. Not heavily populated I would say in that year and not so now. Popular tourist destination in maybe the summer or fall for the leaves and Great Lakes area (but many or most do the areas aforementioned), known for the north shore/Lake Superior, etc.
Early March in such an area would likely be winter yet or traces of it at BEST and probably still in the throes of it. I find the statement that he may have been headed to Alaska very juvenile/young adult fantasy or ill planned, not that he couldn't have been but it isn't exactly next door. Did he have a lot of gas money, motel money, etc., etc.? Pre-cell phone era too. Did he have stops planned and did family know and was he in touch?
I asked for this to be opened not because I know anything but because it is northern Wisconsin for one and this one would be just maybe two hours tops and some parts one hour from where I grew up AND in the year of 1986, in March, I would have been 22 so his age basically. I don't remember hearing a word about this ever. Of course this predates the internet, in those days adults missing didn't make much news or get much LE attention probably AND northern Wisconsin just isn't big news or the news part of the state. The local PD probably handled little also that was big news or crime I'd guess.
What was he a dreamer or young adult runaway, maybe going to Alaska to get a job or so he dreamed--with or without a plan--was someone there he knew, did he have a job in mind, what was his reason? I don't know a thing about the case, just wondering. Long trip he was on and hadn't even gotten out of his own state if that was the plan...
Car in a snowbank, no keys... Vulnerable kid. He may be an adult but was a kid imo for such a trip. There is a lot of forest, etc. in the north. Sounds a bit like the Maura Murray case. Iron County is very low population as I mentioned. Probably the lowest in the state or close. No big cities, very rural, "up north" type of place. Low population but probably one of the highest in state forests and wilderness.
It mentions a tattoo on his chest. Tattoos weren't unheard of in my day in this area I guess but I wouldn't say they were common either. In fact, I'd go so far as to say in that era in that area mostly certain types maybe got one. Of course he wasn't from the northern part of the state, he was from Kenosha or the southern part of the state where all of the population mostly is.
Still he doesn't seem like the tattoo type or was he in the service at all for one thing?
It said he "may" have been headed for Alaska. It also said the car he was driving, not the car he owned so did he just take off with the folks' car or someone's? Also odd it said he "may" have had a tattoo of a wolf, etc. It is NOT KNOWN??? Say what?
Imo, this likely city young "kid" would stick out like a likely naive city type of young sore thumb in that area. He was older than me by some months and I made the 18 year old drinking age. Did he stop at any known haunts up there?
It is a great area don't get me wrong. It also is a poor area job wise and anyone who can live there and eke out a living would require a business owner, someone working in tourism (short months of it other than maybe snowmobiling, etc. and more. By its very rural nature and remoteness there would be a lot of very small town and back woods types. That isn't a judgment, it is just fact. I've been there. It would also be an area of summer homes for those from the southern part of the state or Chicago, etc. My first thought if he was from Kenosha is his parents vacationed up there or hunted, snowmobiled, etc. and that is how he knew it. However, it sounds like it was simply a route to Alaska where no one was even sure he was going and they also are not sure whether he had a wolf tattoo...? Odd.
Alaska is 3,540 miles and Kenosha to Iron County as a start isn't really anything that makes sense either. You'd go northwest towards Minnesota and up and keep going northwest.
These are just out there observations as there isn't much detail but I wonder why they say he may have been headed to Alaska, is that what they think he may have said to people in Iron County, Wisconsin so this is why they mention it? Because he wasn't anywhere near Alaska, he was still in his home state a long, long, long way from Alaska.
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