Metro-East News

This Clinton County man went missing 7 years ago. He was just declared dead.

Rescue workers searched a flooded area east of Breese  in April 2011 for Vincent B. Wesselmann, 75, who was last seen in the area of Breese Grain Co. at North Walnut and First streets. A court order July 24 in Clinton County officially declared him deceased.
Rescue workers searched a flooded area east of Breese in April 2011 for Vincent B. Wesselmann, 75, who was last seen in the area of Breese Grain Co. at North Walnut and First streets. A court order July 24 in Clinton County officially declared him deceased. bbrueggemann@bnd.com

A 75-year-old Breese man has been declared dead more than seven years after his disappearance.

Vincent Wesselmann was last seen in April 2011 in Breese. His car and bicycle were at his home, and family reported his clothing for church had been left out. It was unusual for him to miss church and they had expected him at Holy Week services.

Searches in the days after were complicated by rain and floodwaters — authorities never found his body or solved his disappearance.

A probate petition was filed in late May this year to handle his estate. Notice was given to his heirs by the Clinton County Court in late July that he had been declared dead.

A Memorial Mass is planned for 11 a.m. Sept. 8 at St. Augustine Church in Breese.

A $10,000 reward for information about the man’s disappearance remains in effect, Breese Police said. Anyone with information can call police at 618-526-7226.

Mary Cooley: 618-239-2535, @MaryCooleyBND

This story was originally published August 27, 2018 at 12:53 PM.

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