A computer programmer living in San Francisco went missing for over a month after surveillance video captured him returning to his apartment but never leaving again. The case stumped the San Francisco Police Department until Monday, when his body was discovered inside the apartment building despite having searched it "multiple times."
50-year-old Chris Woitel last made contact with his mother on January 8th. The next day, multiple CCTV cameras captured Woitel returning to his apartment with a bottle of wine, but it was the last time he was seen. He was reported missing on January 13 and his family members hired a private investigation over frustrations the police department was not doing enough to find Chris.
The investigator, Scott Williams, was given access to Woitel's apartment, where he had lived for over 20 years. There, he says he found no evidence of foul play and did not find any clues as to what could have happened to him. Williams says there is also a back door entry to the apartment building, but he reviewed CCTV footage of the area and never saw Woitel leave.
Woitel's relatives say Chris was acting paranoid leading up to his disappearance. He had a history of depression and voiced concern over political unrest coming to San Francisco and "was hearing explosions."
His family and friends described Woitel as a "kind-hearted and generous man" who was known to bring food and offer his apartment to homeless people.
During the investigation, Williams says he located a homeless man who goes by the name "Bood" who had Boitel's phone in his possession. Bood claims Woitel sold it to him for $100. Apparently Boitel supported Bood monetarily and let him stay in his apartment. Williams says he saw Bood on the CCTV cameras entering Boitel's apartment two days before his disappearance but left the following morning, before his disappearance.
Boitel reportedly wrote Bood an angry message on Facebook the day before he went missing that read, "You f***ing a**hole! DONE. THAT’S IT. ENOUGH. You are on your own. You are far too much trouble...Don’t ever come here again!"
A friend of Woitel says he doubts Bood did anything to him because he has difficulty walking due to a leg injury.
On Monday, after Woitel's body was found, the police posted a statement on Facebook: "Today, the San Francisco Police Department and the Medical Examiner notified us that they have located Chris. It is with a heavy heart that we must inform you of Chris' passing."
As of the time of this writing, no details have been given for a cause of death, where exactly Woitel's body was found, or why it wasn't found in previous searches.
Source: DailyMail.co.uk