Overview

Last seen: November 16, 1971
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Age: 48
Home: New Holstein, Wisconsin
Status: Endangered missing; declared legally dead in 1979
NamUs: MP12222
Investigating agency: New Holstein Police Department

Kenneth Michael Plaisted was a 48-year-old New Holstein attorney, husband, father of six and U.S. Navy veteran who disappeared during a trip to Milwaukee on November 16, 1971. His abandoned car was found outside the area where his daughter lived near North 14th and West State streets. The car was unlocked, its windows were down, its keys were missing, the glove compartment appeared to have been searched, and Plaisted’s crushed hat was found nearby. He has never been seen or heard from again.

The investigation became complicated when authorities discovered a $65,000 shortage in a trust fund Plaisted had handled. Investigators initially considered the possibility that he deliberately fled, but information later indicated the money had already been spent before his disappearance. His family has maintained that he did not voluntarily abandon them and has suspected foul play.

Detailed Case Breakdown

Kenneth Michael Plaisted: The 1971 Disappearance of a Wisconsin Attorney

Brief Case Summary

Last seen: November 16, 1971
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Age: 48
Home: New Holstein, Wisconsin
Status: Endangered missing; declared legally dead in 1979
NamUs: MP12222
Investigating agency: New Holstein Police Department

Kenneth Michael Plaisted was a 48-year-old New Holstein attorney, husband, father of six and U.S. Navy veteran who disappeared during a trip to Milwaukee on November 16, 1971. His abandoned car was found outside the area where his daughter lived near North 14th and West State streets. The car was unlocked, its windows were down, its keys were missing, the glove compartment appeared to have been searched, and Plaisted’s crushed hat was found nearby. He has never been seen or heard from again.

The investigation became complicated when authorities discovered a $65,000 shortage in a trust fund Plaisted had handled. Investigators initially considered the possibility that he deliberately fled, but information later indicated the money had already been spent before his disappearance. His family has maintained that he did not voluntarily abandon them and has suspected foul play.

A Business Trip to Milwaukee Ends in a Disappearance

On Tuesday, November 16, 1971, Kenneth Michael Plaisted and his wife traveled from their home in New Holstein to Milwaukee. Plaisted had business to conduct in the city while his wife planned to shop. He was also supposed to meet his daughter around noon and later reunite with his wife. His daughter was attending Marquette University and lived near North 14th Street and West State Street.

Plaisted is confirmed to have attended his business meeting at the Plankinton Building on Wisconsin Avenue. Afterward, he left intending to meet his daughter. Some historical accounts say he had coffee with a Milwaukee attorney before leaving and that another reported sighting placed him at a store shortly before the scheduled meeting. What is clear from official and established case records is that Plaisted never arrived to meet his daughter.

Kenneth Plaisted’s Car Is Found Outside His Daughter’s Residence

When Plaisted failed to arrive as expected, his daughter noticed a vehicle outside that resembled her father’s car. It was his.

Plaisted, however, was nowhere to be found. The circumstances surrounding the vehicle immediately created questions that remain unanswered more than five decades later. The doors were unlocked, the windows were rolled down and the keys were missing. The glove compartment was open and appeared to have been rifled through. A gift Plaisted had purchased remained inside the vehicle.

Even more unusual was the discovery of Plaisted’s hat. It was found crushed in or near the gutter outside the vehicle.

Plaisted never contacted his wife, his six children, friends or authorities, and no confirmed trace of him has surfaced since that day.

The $65,000 Trust Fund Shortage Changes the Investigation

The disappearance soon became considerably more complicated.

After Plaisted vanished, investigators discovered approximately $65,000 was missing from a trust fund he had been responsible for handling as an attorney. According to case summaries, Plaisted had taken money from the trust account and used it to cover shortages in a personal bank account. An IOU was reportedly left at the bank.

The discovery gave investigators an apparent motive for Plaisted to disappear voluntarily. Contemporary newspaper coverage documented warrants and legal proceedings involving the missing attorney, and authorities explored whether he had simply fled rather than become the victim of a crime.

There was a significant problem with that theory: investigators subsequently determined that the missing $65,000 had already been spent before Plaisted disappeared. The money therefore was not apparently taken with him to finance a new life.

That distinction has remained one of the central mysteries of the case.

Did Kenneth Plaisted Run Away—or Was He Killed?

Plaisted’s family did not believe he willingly disappeared. According to The Charley Project, his family believes he was murdered. His son has reportedly suspected a former associate who had been involved in a bitter dispute with Plaisted. That individual was allegedly in Milwaukee on November 16, 1971, but no evidence publicly available has established that the person was responsible for Plaisted’s disappearance.

It is important to distinguish that family suspicion from a law-enforcement conclusion. No person is publicly identified by current official sources as having been charged with harming Plaisted.

The condition of Plaisted’s automobile has nevertheless continued to fuel questions about foul play. Missing keys, an apparently searched glove compartment and a crushed hat found outside the car can be viewed as unusual circumstances, but none independently establishes what happened.

A Mysterious Newspaper Advertisement

Another strange development surfaced after Plaisted disappeared.

A later account reports that authorities received information from one of Plaisted’s former clients concerning a classified advertisement published in a Tampa, Florida newspaper. The advertisement appeared to use Kenneth Plaisted’s name and reportedly listed a post-office-box address in Milford, Connecticut.

Whether the advertisement actually involved the missing Wisconsin attorney has never been established publicly. Researchers have also noted that another person named Kenneth Plaisted had connections to the northeastern United States, providing a possible explanation unrelated to the disappearance.

Because this information comes from secondary research rather than the current Wisconsin Department of Justice case page, it should be regarded as an unresolved lead rather than proof that Plaisted survived after November 1971.

Kenneth Plaisted Declared Legally Dead

Years passed without a confirmed sighting, communication or discovery of Plaisted’s remains.

In 1979, Kenneth Plaisted was declared legally dead. Contemporary newspaper sources documented the petition and subsequent declaration, while modern case databases continue to note the 1979 ruling.

Being declared legally dead did not solve the underlying mystery. Plaisted’s body has never been publicly reported as recovered, and the circumstances of his disappearance remain undetermined.

Latest Investigation Information

More than half a century after Kenneth Michael Plaisted vanished, his case remains active in Wisconsin’s missing-person system and remains unsolved.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice Clearinghouse for Missing & Exploited Children & Adults currently lists Plaisted as a missing adult, with a missing date of November 16, 1971 and Milwaukee as the location. The state’s current listing directs anyone with information to call (920) 898-4241.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System case number associated with Plaisted is MP12222.

No credible public source located for this update reports that Plaisted’s remains have been identified, that an arrest has been made, or that authorities have announced a definitive explanation for his disappearance. The most recent substantial public attention located includes a 2024 Crime Junkie episode and a 2025 Unfound episode devoted to Plaisted’s case. The latter continued to direct tips to the New Holstein Police Department.

At this point, the basic question that confronted Plaisted’s family in 1971 remains unanswered: Did Kenneth Plaisted deliberately disappear because of the financial trouble surrounding him, or did something happen to him after he left his Milwaukee business meeting?

The abandoned car, missing keys, disturbed glove compartment, crushed hat, financial investigation and absence of any confirmed contact afterward have ensured that Kenneth Michael Plaisted’s disappearance remains one of Wisconsin’s longest-running unresolved missing-person cases.