UPDATE: On Sunday, April 23, the Marinette County Sheriff’s Office announced that Theodore Egge has been found dead.
According to the press release, at 2:48 p.m. on Saturday, April 22, Marinette County dispatch received a call from two people stating that they found a “deceased party in the wooded area in the town of Athelstane, Marinette County.” The same city where Theodore was last seen.
The release goes on to say that when officers arrived at the scene, the body was located and identified as Theodore.
Foul play is not suspected at the time but the case remains under investigation by the Marinette County Sheriff’s Office.
“He’s a human being and he matters,” Samantha Egge told Dateline. “He deserves to be found.”
Samantha’s older brother, 35-year-old Theodore Egge, disappeared on January 13, 2023, in Athelstane, Wisconsin -- a city about an hour away from Green Bay.
According to Samantha, the siblings grew up in Green Bay. “I would say we were more close when we were younger,” she said of her relationship with her brother. “He was like my best friend.”
“He’s a charismatic person,” Samantha said. “Big smile, big jokester — just really outgoing.”
Samantha told Dateline that Theodore often bounced around living with friends in the Green Bay area but moved to Crivitz, Wisconsin, about six months ago. She said he had been staying in a cabin with four roommates. “He did like the woods,” Samantha said.
According to Samantha, on Thursday, January 12, Theodore was driving his roommate’s 2007 blue Jeep Liberty in Crivitz. “We do have footage of Theodore getting gas at Kwik Trip,” Samantha said. “It’s at about quarter to 11 that Thursday night.”
Then, Samantha said, Theodore was captured driving north. “That’s the last that we seen him that night,” she said.
The next day, Theodore was spotted in Athelstane -- about 20 minutes away from Crivitz. Samantha told Dateline that someone reported seeing Theodore on the morning of Friday the 13th. “The car was out of gas -- this gentleman gives him half a gallon of gas and says, ‘Hey, meet me at the gas station up the road, I’ll fill you up,’” Samantha recalled the man telling her. “For some reason — [Theodore] didn’t follow him to the gas station.”
Samantha told Dateline that a second gentleman saw Theodore later that day but this time, he was on foot. “[Theodore] is now walking. His car is abandoned,” she said. “He just asked for directions — the guy points to Boat Landing 7 and says, ‘Hey, walk up this way.’” According to Samantha, Boat Landing 7 Road is where Theodore was living at the time.
That was the last time anyone saw Theodore.
On January 13, one of Theodore’s roommates reported him missing to the Marinette County Sheriff’s Office.
On January 21, the Marinette County Sheriff’s Office posted on their Facebook page about Theodore’s disappearance. The post confirms that he was last seen walking from Benson Lake Road in Athelstane “on Friday, January 13th, after asking for directions to Boat Landing 7 Road.”
The post goes on to say that “a search was conducted on Tuesday the 17th that included law enforcement officers, members of the Athelstane Fire Department, Amberg Fire Department, Middle Inlet Fire Department, Wisconsin DNR and their drone, volunteers, K-9s, friends and family members.” It said that officials believe “Theodore left Northway Drive, possibly walking into the woods or down a forest road” and that they “have checked the known cameras in the area with no sight of him.”
On February 6, they posted an update on the case. It says that “based on witness observations in the area, it is believed that Theodore was last walking north on the snowmobile trail crossing Bennet Road heading toward Benson Lake Road,” in Athelstane.
According to the post, investigators do not suspect foul play at this time.
But Theodore’s sister Samantha told Dateline — it could go either way.
She told Dateline that her brother suffers from a mental illness and at the time of his disappearance, he was not on his medication. “He could have wandered off, you know, that wouldn’t totally be odd,” she said.
Despite that, Samantha said, she still believes her brother’s case should be investigated thoroughly — just like anyone else’s would be. “It’s been really hard to get police to look into further options,” she said. She told Dateline that she believes officials have “written it off.”
Samantha told Dateline the Jeep her brother was driving was found abandoned on Benson Lake Road in Athelstane — the same place he was last seen asking for directions. She said that she thinks the car should have been examined further. “[It] got released to the owner without anything being done,” she said.
Samantha said that a phone had been found in the Jeep. She noted that Theodore didn’t have a phone of his own but was borrowing his roommate’s. She told Dateline that she believes the phone should have been looked into further, as well. “The detective told me that there’s just not enough substantial evidence to get a court order to ping it,” she said.
Dateline reached out to the Marinette County Sheriff’s Office by phone and email for comment and to get the latest information on their investigation into Theodore’s disappearance but has not yet heard back.
Samantha told Dateline that her family is begging for answers in her brother’s disappearance. And although they know the outcome may not be him returning home alive, they just want closure.
“I’m not oblivious to the fact that he’s been missing for a month and a half. Most likely, he’s unfortunately passed,” Samantha said. “But that’s not the point. He deserves to be found and his story heard.”
Theodore is 5’11,” 190 lbs., and has blue eyes. He was last seen wearing a black jacket and black pants.
Samantha runs the ‘Missing Person Theodore Egge’ Facebook page dedicated to finding answers about her brother’s disappearance. Her family is offering a $5,000 reward for any information that leads to his whereabouts.
Anyone with information about Theodore is asked to call the Marinette County Sheriff’s Office at 715-732-7627.
