Prayer vigil and butterfly release set for Saturday in Breese
Aggie Dumstorff holds a flier displaying the disappearance of her brother, Vincent Wesselmann. A remembrance of the upcoming 15th anniversary of Vincent "Vince" Wesselmann's disappearance is set for Saturday, April 18.
There will be a Mass for Wesselmann at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, April 18, at St. Dominic's Church in Breese. Immediately following Mass, there will be a short prayer vigil and butterfly release.
All are welcome to attend.
"So many people around here knew Vince or know our family, so we would like all of them to join us out there," said Wesselmann's sister, Aggie Dumstorff. "We just wanted to do something to let him know that we are all still praying and looking for him."
Mass usually lasts around 45 minutes, so the prayer vigil and butterfly release will be around 6:15 p.m.
Wesselmann was last seen in April 2011.
"It is unbelievable to me that it has been 15 years," Dumstorff said. "In a way it seems like yesterday, and in a way it seems like forever ago."
Wesselmann was reportedly last seen walking by Breese Grain Company on April 22, 2011. He was reportedly on his way to the post office but never arrived. There was no indication of foul play.
Vince Wesselmann
None of Wesselmann's things — including his house, car and bank account — were touched. Dumstorff said Wesselmann liked walking, but he never crossed the highway or went out of town.
Police conducted a long search and even drained a pond in hopes of locating him.
At the time of his disappearance, Wesselmann was 75 years old, 6 feet tall, and weighed about 210 pounds. He was last seen wearing dark blue pants and a dark blue baseball cap.
The area was under heavy, severe rains at the time of his disappearance.
Wesselmann was last seen by family members on April 21, 2011. Family members who had not heard from Wesselmann notified the police on April 23. A search began later that evening by Breese Police Department, Breese Fire Department, EMS personnel, Clinton County Emergency Service and Disaster Agency, Clinton County Sheriff's Department, family members and friends.
“If you know something, say something.” Aggie Dumstorff
Wesselmann went for a walk on Thursday, April 21, 2011. Some of his clothes had been laid on the bed because it was Holy Thursday and he was going to go to church that night. But his clothes were still there at the end of the day.
On April 22, one of Wesselmann's siblings tried to call him and he didn't answer. At 6 p.m. April 23, Dumstorff and sister Ruth Jansen realized he was missing. They went to the Breese Police Department and within one hour they had a command post set up at the fire station.
Everyone was trying to figure out where Wesselmann was. In church that evening, the priests in both parishes announced that Wesselmann was missing. About 75 people showed up that evening, put glow-in-the-dark vests on, and ground searched everywhere in town. They knocked on doors and looked in people's sheds.
On Sunday, April 24 — which was Easter — it was again announced at both churches and about 125 people were searching for him. All the firemen from every town in the county ground searched, but to no avail.
The next day, someone with a small airplane flew real low over a lot of areas looking for him.
"For weeks this went on, and there was still nothing," Dumstorff said.
For weeks, dog handlers from Illinois and Missouri came out to search for him.
On July 24, 2018, a court order was issued in the Clinton County Circuit Court declaring Wesselmann deceased. A celebration of life memorial Mass was held on Sept. 8, 2018, at St. Augustine Catholic Church with the Rev. Patrick Peter as the officiant.
"That still didn't help us with closure," Dumstorff said. "We have no closure and always have this big question mark on top of our heads wishing we knew and wishing we could give him a proper burial if we could find his remains."
Dumstorff said she recently saw on Facebook that a girl that disappeared 30 years ago was found and she was alive, so Wesselmann's family still holds out hope.
Whenever there are human remains found, Dumstorff contacts the sheriff's office in those vicinities.
Dumstorff said Wesselmann was a wonderful person who always went to church and did whatever was needed. He was always the first to arrive and the last to leave at any event.
Wesselmann was a veteran of the U.S. Army and a member of Timmernann-Benhoff American Legion Post 252 in Breese. He was involved with St. Augustine Church's Holy Name Society, Habitat for Humanity chapter and Camp Ondessonk in the Shawnee National Forest near Ozark.
Wesselmann took a week's vacation to help with Habitat for Humanity and Camp Ondessonk. Those were his vacations every year. He retired from Jim's Formal Wear in Trenton just weeks before his disappearance.
"He was always there for anybody, that is just who he was," Dumstorff said.
Wesselmann had 12 other siblings — eight sisters and four brothers. Since Wesselmann's disappearance, six of those siblings have passed away never knowing what happened to him.
They keep Wesselmann's flier out wherever they can. Businesses still keep the fliers up and Dumstorff thanks them.
"So many people come up to me and my siblings all the time and say they are still thinking about him," Dumstorff said.
With the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today show host Savannah Guthrie, making national news, many people have reached out to Dumstorff and her siblings because they understand they are still hurting from Wesselmann's disappearance and still have no answers.
"Our family is just constantly praying," Dumstorff said. "We just hope and hope and hope that some day we get answers and find him, even if he is deceased. We just want to find him and give him his final resting place."
She added, “If you know something, say something.”
Anyone with information on Wesselmann's disappearance can call the Breese Police Department at 618-526-7226 or the Clinton County Sheriff's Office at 618-594-4555. There is a $10,000 reward for any information about Wesselmann's disappearance.
Breese Police Chief Mark Berndsen said they are still receiving tips on the case, but all of those tips revolve around the same person or people.
"I hate this time of year because this is one case that I hoped we could have solved," Berndsen said. "We just continue to send our well wishes to the family. We hope that one day, as they do as well, that we will get some answers."
