Oblivion: The Mystery of West Point Cadet Richard Cox

On Staturday, January 14, 1950, at 6:18 p.m., Richard Cox left his room at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point gto go to dinner with an unidentified visitor. He never returned.

Despite a massive manhunt and several plausible theories, Cox was never found. In 1957, he was declared legally dead, and the files were closed.

Then, in 1985, Marshall Jacobs, a retired teacher, decided to pursue the case as a research project. Through the Freedom of Information Act, he obtained voluminous once-secret files from the Army and FBI. Jacobs plunged into a labyrinthine search--and what began as a hobby became an obsession. After more than seven years, Jacobs found the one witness who helped him bring the case to a close.

This is his story.