In the winter of 1982, the family of Terrance Lee Schram, a 26-year-old man serving in the U.S. Navy, received a phone call that would be their last communication with him. At the time of his disappearance, Terrance was officially listed as missing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which may have been his last known residence or confirmed location. Terrance, who was originally from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, was described as a white male, standing at 5'8' to 5'9' and weighing between 147 and 150 pounds. He had brown hair, typically in a U.S. military-style cut, brown eyes, and a tattoo of what might be a scorpion on his upper left arm. In the last known photographs of him, he had a brown mustache.
The circumstances surrounding Terrance's disappearance are complex and contain conflicting information. He was serving in the Navy in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Some reports state he went missing while on leave from the Navy on June 1, 1981, from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. He had plans to visit his girlfriend in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, but he never arrived. There is also a possibility that he was treated at a naval hospital in 1981 before traveling to Florida. The final contact with his family was a phone call he made to his father in early 1982. During this call, his family believes he was in Florida. He reportedly mentioned to his family that he was thinking of turning himself in to the Navy, as he had been declared a deserter after being absent without leave for more than 30 days.
Since that last phone call, there has been no further contact with Terrance Lee Schram. His family approached the Sturgeon Bay Police Department for assistance in July 2008. Although he was not missing from their jurisdiction, the department agreed to help due to the unusual nature of the case. The lack of a specific location in Florida where Terrance made the call has made it difficult for authorities there to open an investigation. The case of Terrance Lee Schram is an unsettling mystery, leaving his loved ones without answers for decades. The conflicting timelines and locations, from Philadelphia to Sturgeon Bay and a potential presence in Florida, create a challenging puzzle for investigators. The emotional weight of his last known words, expressing a possible intention to return to the Navy, adds a layer of poignancy to his story. His case remains an active missing person investigation, a quiet but persistent search for a man who vanished after a final, hopeful phone call home.Last Seen: Jan 1, 1982
