John Wagner Jr., a 26-year-old man from Vallejo, California, has been reported missing since November 2, 1994. According to available public accounts, he was last known to be in contact with his mother that day during a phone call, after which he was never heard from again. His disappearance has been classified as endangered, and the circumstances have long been described as suspicious and unresolved.
Public case information indicates Wagner was struggling with methamphetamine addiction around the time he vanished. Physical descriptors released publicly are limited: he is described as a white male with brown hair, and his height and weight were not available in the published case summary. Family concerns have been emphasized in case narratives, noting that it was uncharacteristic for him to cut off contact, which deepened fears that something went wrong rather than this being a voluntary, planned disappearance.
One of the most troubling elements repeatedly associated with Wagner’s disappearance is his connection to a homicide investigation from 1994. His mother reportedly said he sounded distraught and frightened, telling her he was “a mess” and “scared to death” because he had witnessed the killing of 24-year-old Michael Agustin earlier that year. Case summaries state that Wagner provided a statement to investigators that was recorded, but that statement was not ultimately introduced at the later trial of Bradley Hoover, a man Wagner reportedly knew as his drug supplier. Public accounts note that Hoover was eventually convicted of Agustin’s murder in 2011, years after the crime.
Court records from later litigation over the Agustin case show that Wagner’s disappearance became a concrete issue in those proceedings, underscoring how significant a missing witness can be years after the fact. In those filings, Hoover argued that the long delay in prosecution harmed his defense in part because witness John Wagner had disappeared and could not be interviewed by defense counsel. The same court record also notes that Wagner’s mother reported information to police indicating that, around the time Wagner disappeared, a cousin named Sam Kissell had threatened to kill him over a drug debt—details raised in arguments about credibility and investigative follow-up. The record further reflects that the trial court discussed the possibility that prosecutors were hoping Wagner would “resurface,” and the prosecutor agreed that was the reason for delay.
As of the most recent publicly accessible case information, John Wagner Jr. has not been located and the case remains unsolved. For those who may hold even a small detail—an encounter, a memory, a tip that once seemed insignificant—his case serves as a reminder that answers can still matter decades later, both for accountability and for the people who have lived with uncertainty and grief. The investigating agency listed in public case materials is the Vallejo Police Department.Last Seen: Nov 2, 1994
