KEVIN SHIFFER IS MISSING FROM WILKES-BARRE
A Veteran Came to the City Seeking Stability. Then the Calls Stopped.
By RICHIE D MOWREY for The Sassy Gazette’s Dicking Around With Richie: A True Crime Feed
There is a dangerous thing that can happen when someone is unhoused.
The world begins treating their whereabouts as flexible.
Maybe they moved on.
Maybe they found another shelter.
Maybe they are staying with someone.
Maybe they lost their phone.
Maybe they simply do not want to be found.
One maybe piles on top of another until a human being can disappear inside the assumptions.
Kevin Shiffer is 37 years old. He is a veteran. And he is missing from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
Wilkes-Barre police say Kevin was reported missing on August 28, 2026. Police described him as approximately 5 feet 11 inches tall and 180 pounds, with tattoos on both arms. He was reportedly last seen wearing shorts and a T-shirt. Detective Fisher is listed as the investigator to contact with information.
But August 28 is only one date in this story.
It is the date the missing-person report entered the public record.
It is not necessarily the day Kevin disappeared.
And somewhere before that report was filed is a stretch of time that remains frustratingly difficult to reconstruct.
That is where this case begins.
THE MAN BEHIND THE ALERT
Kevin is now appearing on missing-person flyers, Facebook posts, advocacy pages and databases.
That is what happens when someone disappears. A whole person gets compressed into measurements.
37 years old.
5'11".
Approximately 180 pounds, according to police.
Tattoos on both arms.
Shorts and a T-shirt.
Useful information. Necessary information.
But Kevin is not a collection of identifiers.
Public advocacy material describes him as a veteran, and Missing People in America includes Kevin in its Missing Military and Veteran Database. That database currently lists him as 37 and missing from Wilkes-Barre. It also contains something striking: the field for Date Last Seen is blank.
That blank space is not just an empty box.
It represents one of the central problems in Kevin's disappearance.
We know when police were formally notified.
We still do not have a publicly established answer for when Kevin was last definitively seen.
Advocacy materials circulated by the Finding Jesse Farber page describe Kevin as an Army veteran who served in Afghanistan. Those materials have also stated that he has PTSD.
Those details may be accurate, but they have not been independently confirmed in the strongest public sources reviewed for this article.
And that distinction matters.
This case has enough unanswered questions already.
We do not need to manufacture certainty where the record does not give us any.
INTO WILKES-BARRE
According to a public statement from a person identifying herself as Kevin's emergency contact, Kevin came to Wilkes-Barre near the end of June 2026.
The reason, she said, was to be closer to the VA hospital and get help.
That family account fits the infrastructure that actually exists in Wilkes-Barre.
The Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center operates a Homeless Veteran Care program specifically designed to assist veterans who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. The VA says those services can include immediate food and shelter, transitional and permanent housing assistance, job training, financial support, health care and other resources. Veterans can visit the program without an appointment, and no referral is required.
That establishes something important.
The idea that a veteran experiencing homelessness might travel to Wilkes-Barre seeking VA assistance is entirely consistent with services offered there.
What it does not establish is Kevin's individual history with the VA.
We do not currently know from public records whether Kevin had an appointment, whether a VA employee was handling his case, whether the VA referred him to a shelter, or whether any housing arrangement had formally been approved.
Those remain unanswered questions.
And in an active missing-person case, unanswered questions belong on the table, not underneath it.
A FEW DAYS BECAME THIRTY
Kevin's family account says an organization transported him to Mother Teresa's Haven, an emergency shelter for men in Wilkes-Barre.
Mother Teresa's Haven is located at 39 East Jackson Street, above the Saint Vincent de Paul Kitchen. The shelter is operated by Catholic Social Services of the Diocese of Scranton and currently accommodates up to 20 men. It provides emergency shelter along with case management, intake and assessment, employment assistance and referrals for transitional and permanent housing.
The shelter moved into its permanent East Jackson Street location in January 2025 after decades of operating from rotating or temporary locations.
Kevin's family says he was initially told it might take only several days before housing could be found.
Those days reportedly became weeks.
Then roughly 30 days.
There is a particularly important piece of public documentation here.
Before the shelter moved into its permanent location, Catholic Social Services publicly explained that men could stay at Mother Teresa's Haven for a maximum of 30 days, with a possible 15-day extension when residents were taking steps toward improving their circumstances.
That published policy makes the family's account of Kevin staying approximately 30 days plausible.
But it does not prove Kevin's individual shelter record.
We still do not publicly know:
- When Kevin checked in.
- Whether Kevin received or requested an extension.
- Whether housing was actually pending.
- Who was handling that housing process.
- The exact day Kevin left.
- Where he went when he walked out.
Those are not small details.
They are the hinges on which this timeline turns.
THE DOOR CLOSES. THE TRAIL THINS.
According to Kevin's family, he eventually had to leave Mother Teresa's Haven.
And this is where the case becomes foggy.
Kevin reportedly did not have a vehicle.
His family says his phone did not have active cellular service. Instead, he reportedly relied on Wi-Fi to contact family through Facebook.
That means Kevin's digital tether to the people who loved him may already have been fragile.
No cellular service means no ordinary phone connection when Wi-Fi disappears.
No vehicle means transportation options shrink.
No permanent housing means the number of places someone might sleep, eat, charge a phone or connect to the internet can change every day.
But none of that explains the disappearance.
It only explains why tracing Kevin afterward may be much harder.
His emergency contact wrote publicly that Kevin always stayed in contact with her, during good times and bad.
Then he stopped.
That difference is critical.
When someone routinely maintains contact and suddenly does not, the people who know that person best may recognize danger long before a database ever receives a name.
We still do not have one of the most important facts in the entire case:
What was Kevin's final confirmed communication?
What day?
What time?
Where was he?
Was it a voice call?
Facebook Messenger?
A video call?
Did Kevin say where he planned to go next?
Was he still staying at Mother Teresa's Haven?
Had he already left?
The public record does not answer those questions.
And until it does, the exact moment Kevin's ordinary life turned into a missing-person case remains hidden.
THE COAT, THE FLASHLIGHT, THE POCKETKNIFE
There is another detail in the family's account that deserves attention precisely because we do not know what it means.
Kevin's emergency contact said she spoke with an older unhoused man who reported that Kevin had given him several belongings:
- A coat.
- A flashlight.
- A pocketknife.
She said she recognized the coat because it had been a Christmas gift to Kevin.
That information is emotionally powerful.
It is also dangerous territory for speculation.
People give away belongings for countless reasons.
People experiencing homelessness may trade items, share resources, help someone who has less, lighten what they are carrying, replace belongings or simply give something away because another person needs it.
We are not going to take one reported act and build a psychological conclusion around it.
There is no credible public evidence currently establishing that Kevin giving away those belongings was connected to self-harm, foul play, fear, criminal activity or an intention to disappear.
What we can say is this:
His family says the exchange happened.
What we need to know is:
- When?
- Where?
- Was the man who received the items interviewed by police?
- When had he last seen Kevin?
- Did he remember which direction Kevin went?
- Were the belongings recovered?
- Did anyone else see Kevin at the same time?
That is where investigation belongs.
Not in guessing what was inside Kevin's head.
THE SEARCH OUTSIDE THE FILE
Kevin's emergency contact described a search extending far beyond a few Facebook shares.
She said she checked the VA hospital.
She said she contacted hospitals and even the morgue.
She spoke with volunteers, shelter workers and people experiencing homelessness.
She searched soup kitchens.
Libraries.
Churches.
The bus station.
Turkey Hill locations.
Homeless encampments.
Places where somebody said Kevin might have been.
Flyers went out.
People shared his face.
His name began moving across Pennsylvania missing-person networks.
And eventually, Wilkes-Barre police publicly entered the picture.
Police confirmed Kevin had been reported missing on August 28 and asked anyone with information to contact Detective Fisher.
But there is an important line separating the family's search from what law enforcement has publicly confirmed.
Police have not publicly announced foul play.
They have not publicly identified a suspect.
They have not announced a person of interest.
They have not publicly established that Kevin left Wilkes-Barre.
They have not publicly confirmed that Kevin voluntarily disappeared.
And they have not publicly provided an exact last-seen date.
That silence does not prove police know nothing.
Investigators frequently possess information that is never immediately released.
It simply means the public cannot responsibly claim more than law enforcement has said.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
Some parts of a missing-person case live in police reports, timelines and databases.
Other parts live in the words of the people who know the missing person best.
Melinda Pool, who has publicly identified herself as Kevin’s emergency contact, shared several statements about Kevin and the search for him. These quotes are reproduced from her public comments.
“Kevin always stayed in contact with me, always. Good or bad.”
“This is all I have. I’ve ran every conversation through my head over and over, thinking I’ve missed something.”
“The people he interacted with all described him exactly how he is. Respectful, trustworthy, and helpful.”
“I can’t find the words to thank everyone who has helped, or reached out to help.”
“Just know I’m not giving up.”
That final sentence says more than a dozen theories ever could.
Kevin’s family is still searching. And until he is found, that search is not over.
THE PAPER TRAIL DOESN'T QUITE LINE UP
Missing-person cases often develop inconsistencies.
Sometimes they are harmless.
Sometimes they happen because early flyers are created quickly while information is still being gathered.
Sometimes one person remembers something differently from another.
But when the public is being asked to identify someone, those differences deserve attention.
Kevin's case currently contains several.
170 POUNDS OR 180?
An advocacy flyer lists Kevin at approximately 170 pounds.
Police-sourced reporting lists him at approximately 180 pounds.
For identification purposes, the police figure should currently be treated as the stronger source.
WHEN DID KEVIN DISAPPEAR?
Advocacy materials say Kevin was last seen in late July 2026.
But Missing People in America's database leaves Kevin's Date Last Seen field empty.
Police-sourced reporting establishes only that he was reported missing August 28.
Those are three different pieces of information.
They must not be mashed together into one invented date.
THE TATTOOS
There is also disagreement in circulated descriptions of which tattoos appear on which arm.
One advocacy flyer describes a cross with the names "Les" and "Chris" around it on Kevin's right arm, while placing "Taurus" and additional imagery on the left.
Another flyer circulated in the search assigns some of those identifiers differently.
For anyone who believes they may have seen Kevin, his photographs are therefore particularly important.
The discrepancy does not make the search less credible.
It means the public-facing information needs tightening.
And when someone is missing, left arm versus right arm is not trivia.
THE MISSING PIECES
This is where the case currently sits.
Not with a neat theory.
Not with a villain.
Not with a tidy timeline.
With questions.
- When was Kevin last physically seen by someone who knew him?
- What is the exact date of his final confirmed communication with family?
- When did Kevin enter Mother Teresa's Haven?
- When did he leave?
- Did he receive a shelter extension?
- Who was helping him obtain housing?
- Was an apartment actually being arranged?
- Where did Kevin go immediately after leaving the shelter?
- Was surveillance footage available from the shelter or surrounding businesses?
- Did Kevin connect to Facebook after he left?
- Did his account show activity after family contact stopped?
- When did he reportedly give away the coat, flashlight and pocketknife?
- Was the recipient interviewed by investigators?
- Are there confirmed sightings after Kevin left the shelter?
- Why does the public database still contain no last-seen date?
And perhaps most importantly:
What happened between the last ordinary contact with Kevin and August 28, when he was formally reported missing?
That stretch of time is the heart of this case.
HOMELESS DOES NOT MEAN UNTRACEABLE SHOULD BE ACCEPTABLE
There is a temptation with cases involving homelessness to treat uncertainty as normal.
No fixed address.
No reliable phone.
No car.
Maybe different shelters.
Maybe public transportation.
Maybe sleeping outside.
Maybe moving between neighborhoods.
But those circumstances should make a search more urgent, not less.
A missing person with a stable house, functioning phone, vehicle GPS and predictable routine leaves behind dozens of digital breadcrumbs.
Someone without those things may leave almost none.
That vulnerability should never become permission for society to shrug.
Kevin reportedly came to Wilkes-Barre seeking help.
The city has veteran resources.
It has emergency shelter services.
It has housing programs.
It has a VA medical center whose Homeless Veteran Care program exists specifically to connect veterans experiencing homelessness with food, shelter, housing and supportive services.
Yet somewhere inside that network, Kevin disappeared from public view.
That does not prove the network failed him.
It does not establish negligence.
It does not tell us whether Kevin left voluntarily, encountered an emergency, traveled elsewhere or experienced something far more serious.
But it does leave one question worth asking loudly:
Where did the paper trail end, and where did Kevin go after it did?
LOOK AGAIN
Look at Kevin's photographs.
Not only the missing-person flyer.
Look at the different versions of him.
With the hat.
Without it.
With facial hair.
Without much facial hair.
In the hoodie.
In the tank top.
Different lighting.
Different expressions.
A missing person encountered briefly at a convenience store does not arrive carrying his flyer.
He looks like a guy standing in line.
Someone charging his phone.
Someone waiting for a bus.
Someone asking whether a library has Wi-Fi.
Someone sitting at a soup kitchen.
Someone walking down a street.
Someone you may remember only after seeing his face twice.
So look again.
KEVIN SHIFFER IS STILL MISSING
As of this writing, Missing People in America continues to list Kevin Shiffer, age 37, as missing from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The database entry was updated August 28 and contains no public last-seen date.
Anyone with information regarding Kevin's whereabouts is asked to contact:
Detective Fisher
Wilkes-Barre City Police Department
570-208-6716
If you believe you are currently seeing Kevin or there is an immediate emergency, call 911.
Do not confront or attempt to detain someone you believe may be Kevin.
Instead, remember what matters.
- Location.
- Time.
- Clothing.
- Direction of travel.
- Vehicle information if applicable.
Then call police.
Because buried somewhere underneath the flyers, dates, shelter policies and unanswered questions is something beautifully simple:
Kevin is a person people are waiting to hear from.
Until his whereabouts and welfare are confirmed, his disappearance deserves attention.
His housing status does not diminish that.
His struggles do not diminish that.
The gaps in the timeline do not diminish that.
They make finding the answers more important.
SOMEONE KNOWS SOMETHING. SAY IT.
🦋 Thanks for dicking around with Richie. Keep being a voice for the voiceless.
Sources and Further Reading
Wilkes-Barre Police information reported by WBRE/WYOU, including Kevin's August 28 missing-person report, physical description and Detective Fisher contact information.
Missing man reported in Wilkes-Barre
Missing People in America, including Kevin's Wilkes-Barre listing and blank public last-seen field.
Missing People in America Database
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Wilkes-Barre Homeless Veteran Care program and services.
Wilkes-Barre VA Homeless Veteran Care
Catholic Social Services / Diocese of Scranton, information concerning Mother Teresa's Haven, its current location, supportive services and shelter policies.
Catholic Social Services Shelters
Mother Teresa's Haven Shelter Information
Pennsylvania 211, listing for Mother Teresa's Haven.
Mother Teresa's Haven at Pennsylvania 211
Reporting Note
Statements concerning Kevin's late-June arrival in Wilkes-Barre, his reported stay at Mother Teresa's Haven, communication habits, lack of cellular service, search efforts and the coat, flashlight and pocketknife account originate from publicly shared family information. Where those details could not be independently corroborated, they have been attributed rather than presented as established fact.
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