Jose Luis Perez-Alpizar was 42 years old when he was last seen on August 28, 1998, in Kennewick, Washington, in Benton County. He is identified in public missing-person records as a male of Hispanic/Latino and White/Caucasian background, with black hair and brown eyes, about 5 feet 6 inches tall and approximately 160 pounds. His disappearance began without the kind of explanation that might have helped his loved ones understand where he intended to go: official case information states that he
did not notify family members or friends that he would be leaving, that he left unexpectedly, and that he has not been seen or heard from since. The Kennewick Police Department is listed as the investigating agency, and the NamUs case is published as Missing Person case MP34224.
The known circumstances leave a painful gap between the last confirmed contact and everything that followed. Jose’s last location is recorded as Kennewick, Washington, ZIP code 99336, and the case materials do not describe a planned trip, a stated destination, or a farewell to the people who knew him. That absence of communication is central to the concern around his disappearance, because the available information portrays his departure as sudden and out of character rather than a clearly explained absence. Public case summaries continue to repeat the same core facts: he was last seen on August 28, 1998, he left without telling family or friends, and no confirmed contact has been reported since.
One important investigative detail involves transportation associated with Jose. The official case data lists a silver 1982 Honda Prelude with Washington license plate EUU686, expiring in 1999. The vehicle information is notable because it was reportedly re-sold by an unknown party in June 1999 to a woman in La Pine, Oregon, and then re-licensed in Oregon. That detail suggests investigators had reason to track the vehicle after Jose vanished, though the publicly available case information does not state who sold it, how it came to be sold, or whether the transfer clarified what happened to him. Because the publicly released facts are limited, the vehicle history remains one of the few concrete pieces of movement connected to the case after the date Jose was last seen.
The case file also reflects efforts to support identification work if needed. DNA reference samples from Jose’s mother and brother are listed as complete and verified through the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification, with STR profiles uploaded to CODIS/NDIS searching and mtDNA available from his mother’s sample. These entries show that his family contributed biological reference material, an act that often carries both hope and heartbreak: hope that answers may someday come, and heartbreak because such steps are taken when ordinary searches have not brought a person home. The records do not provide a resolution, a confirmed sighting, or an explanation for why Jose disappeared.
At its core, Jose Luis Perez-Alpizar’s case is the story of a man who vanished from Kennewick at age 42 on August 28, 1998, leaving behind family and friends with no warning, no clear destination, and no confirmed contact afterward. The available public record is sparse but consistent: Jose was last known to be in Kennewick, his absence was unexpected, his vehicle later surfaced through a reported resale in Oregon, and investigators preserved family DNA references in the search for answers. More than two decades later, the overview remains one of uncertainty, with the Kennewick Police Department tied to the investigation and Jose remembered through the few details that remain publicly available: his name, his face, his last known place, and the unanswered question of what happened after he was last seen.Last Seen: Aug 28, 1998
