Mortimer "Mai" Wortman: Rutgers Student Vanishes Near 12,000 Acre Preserve

The Disappearance of Mortimer "Mai" Wortman

• 🎓 22-year-old Rutgers University student Mortimer "Mai" Wortman has been missing since November 21st, just before Thanksgiving.
• 💔 His family describes him as a light, illuminating any place he walks into with his smile, curiosity, and kindness.
• 🚗 Mai was last seen on surveillance video getting into a car with an acquaintance, Adam Zaluk, outside a regional day school in Jackson Township, New Jersey.

Search Efforts and Key Questions

• 🌲 Authorities are conducting extensive searches of the 12,000-acre Collier's Mills Wildlife Area, where an argument reportedly occurred between Mai and Zaluk.
• ❓ Mai's family is suspicious of Zaluk, who reported Mai missing, due to a prior incident where Zaluk allegedly threatened Mai with a knife and rammed his car.
• 🚗 Despite a no-contact order, Zaluk's vehicle was reportedly seen near Mai's house in the weeks leading up to his disappearance.

Family's Plea and Support

• 🗣️ Mai's mother, Joanna Reyes, actively participates in daily searches and urges anyone with information to come forward.
• 💰 A $2,000 reward is being offered by two local town council members for information leading to Mai's safe return.
• 📞 The family is frustrated by the lack of answers and the ongoing investigation, emphasizing that Mai is not a threat to anyone.

Other Missing Person Cases

• 💔 The episode also briefly highlights other missing persons cases, including Thomas Medlin in New York, who may have met someone online via Roblox, and two teens, Forever Scott and Darcia Mallister, missing from a behavioral health center in Portsmouth, Virginia.
• 🗓️ The segment also touches upon the case of Ally Loitzer, who vanished in 2010, and the family of Chris Palmer, who believe he took his own life.