Investigators Search for Body of Missing Falcon Heights Man

A Falcon Heights man is missing and has been since February of 2009. The only sign of him is his blood, found in the trunk of his girlfriend's car.

Hal Schroetter, 57, is presumed dead and police would like to find his body. That would be a key piece of evidence that might move this case forward.

There is a $50,000 reward for a conviction in the case.

Back in 2009, Schroetter lived on Larpenteur Avenue in Falcon Heights. Police say he was making changes in his life. The 57-year-old postal worker had reconciled with his son Nick, and had just learned he had a grandchild on the way. Police say he was kicking his girlfriend, Jackie Dubay, out of his home, and removing her as a beneficiary to his will.

"She was in line to inherit a good sum of money. If something happened to Hal," said detective Tim Briski of the St. Anthony Police Department which is investigating the case along with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Then something did happened to Hal, he disappeared. Dubay reported him missing, saying he'd left in his car and gone gambling up north. But investigators said her story didn't add up and brought Jackie and her brother Jay in for questioning.

"It is so obvious that these two individuals are lying for one another, " said Special Agent Michael Wold of the Minnesota BCA.

The biggest break investigators have had in this case is when they served a search warrant on Jackie Dubay's car. Inside that car they found something very unusual. The trunk liner in the back had been replaced with a new one. Under that liner they found blood. Forensic testing showed that blood matched Hal Schroetter.

The news was devastating to Schroetter's family.

"It was like a kick in the gut, and I just thought of him in the trunk. Its just unbearable," said Nick Schroetter, Hal's son, who had recently told his father that his first grandchild was on the way.

KSTP-TV went to two known locations looking for the Dubays, but we were unable to locate them.

Investigators say they need to find Hal's body and that it's tough to prosecute a case like this without it. They're appealing to the public, especially those who know the Dubays and can remember what they were doing in February and March of 2009.

"If they saw those vehicles near a river, near a landfill, something like that, near a suspicious location, we would hope they would call us," said Wold.

Schroetter was a 20 year Navy veteran who served aboard submarines. His family would like to give him the burial any veteran has earned.

"I'd like to find him," said Nick Schroetter. "He deserves to be buried at Fort Snelling. He served his country. He deserves it."

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