Kenneth Michael Plaisted, age 48, a white male attorney from New Holstein, Wisconsin, vanished without a trace on **November 16, 1971**, after traveling to Milwaukee with his wife for a combination of business and family visits.
That morning, Kenneth dropped his wife off in downtown Milwaukee so she could shop, while he attended a business meeting in the **Plankinton Building** on Wisconsin Avenue.
He was subsequently expected to pick up his daughter—then studying at Marquette University—for a lunch appointment around noon, with plans to later retrieve his wife and then look for a car together that afternoon. After finishing the meeting and grabbing coffee with a local attorney, he left saying he was heading to his daughter’s apartment near North 14th Street and West State Street—but he never arrived.
When she noticed he was late, his daughter looked out her window and saw his vehicle parked on the curb below. She discovered the car **unlocked**, with the **windows rolled down**, **keys missing**, the **glove box left open and rifled through**, but gifts he had bought still undisturbed in the backseat. Nearby, his **hat lay crushed in a gutter**, suggesting signs of haste or disturbance—but Kenneth himself was nowhere to be found, and was never heard from again.
Following his disappearance, authorities uncovered a **$65,000 shortage** in a trust fund he had been managing. Kenneth had apparently transferred the funds into his personal account to cover debts, leaving an IOU at the bank. While investigators initially considered that he might have fled with the money, it was later established that the funds had already been spent before his disappearance. This undercut the hypothesis that he left deliberately with the missing assets.
His family, including six children, have long maintained that Kenneth would never abandon them by choice—especially naturally given his role as a father and husband. His son, Michael Plaisted, an attorney, suspects foul play. He believes a former associate, with whom Kenneth had engaged in a bitter dispute and who was reportedly in Milwaukee that same day, may have been involved. However, no direct evidence has ever tied that associate to the disappearance.
Kenneth was described as approximately **6′ 1″** tall, weighing about **165 lbs**, with **gray hair**, **blue eyes**, and a **scar on his right hand**. He was known to wear distinctive jewelry: a **gold ring with a square diamond**, a **silver or gold ring** featuring an onyx-like stone with an etched Roman soldier’s head, and possibly a **silver or gold watch**.
In 1979, a Calumet County court declared him legally dead, after concluding that he would’ve likely made contact with his family if still alive. Authorities from the **New Holstein Police Department** have continued to treat the case as unsolved. In 2024, the disappearance was examined in a **Crime Junkie** podcast episode, where investigators reiterated that Kenneth’s car and belongings suggested an abrupt and unexpected disappearance—and once again, emphasized that the family rejects the idea that he left willingly.
Over five decades later, Kenneth Plaisted’s whereabouts remain unknown, and his family continues to seek closure. Anyone with information has been asked to contact the New Holstein Police Department.Last Seen: Nov 16, 1971
