James Arthur Cole never came home after a night out with his brother in April 1994.
The next month, someone who knew Cole casually claimed he spoke with Cole at a Taco Bell.
But 16 years later, Anne Arundel County police say Cole’s disappearance is still considered an active missing-person case.
The night he went missing, Cole, then a 21-year-old who worked in landscaping, was out drinking and singing karaoke with his brother at two bars in Severna Park.
They went to Shangri-La, then the Gingerbread Man, the night of April 10. At about 10 p.m., Cole’s brother went home, while Cole returned to Shangri-La, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.
Cole was visibly intoxicated when he left the bar alone at about 1:30 a.m.
He never made it home. His family and friends told “America’s Most Wanted” — which has featured his case — that they canvassed the routes Cole could have taken to return home.
Police continued to investigate the case even after a witness claimed to have spoken with Cole at a Taco Bell restaurant near Ritchie Highway and Jumpers Hole Road in Pasadena, Md.
The witness said he knew Cole, and Cole had enough money with him at the time to buy coffee, the Baltimore Sun reported at the time.
Cole’s family, though, was skeptical and told the newspaper they didn’t think he had been seen.
Cole, who went by Jimmy, would now be 38 years old.
He is described as a white man who is about 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 140 pounds. He has brown or dirty blond hair and brown eyes.
Cole has a tattoo of a spider on his right forearm.
Anyone who has information about the case can call the Anne Arundel County police missing-persons unit at 410-222-3588.
