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Missing on purpose | For years, a worried family hasn't heard from a BGSU student who purposefully disappeared

Jacob Bromm went off the grid in 2018 after starting his college career at Bowling Green. He filed a report saying he was OK and walked away from everything.

Amy Steigerwald, WTOL Newsroom

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Published: 2:27 PM EDT April 27, 2021
Updated: 6:23 PM EDT April 29, 2021

In fall of 2018, 18-year-old Jacob Bromm began his college career at Bowling Green State University. He appeared eager and excited to study business, following in his sister's footsteps.

To his family, everything seemed normal for the first half of the semester.

“He said he really liked the college! And he knew everyone on the hall when we went there," said Clifford Bromm, Jacob's dad. "One of us was going there every couple of weeks to visit him and get him groceries and stuff. And you walked down the hall and everyone knows him!”

His sister, Catherine Bromm, also claimed she would frequently see him with friends on campus.

As Thanksgiving break started to get closer, Jacob told his family he planned to go away with a friend for the short holiday break. His parents, not thinking anything of it, planned to see him at Christmas. But they didn’t know that would be one of the last times they’d speak to him.

Credit: Bromm Family
Jacob Bromm of Troy, Michigan, started at Bowling Green State Unversity in fall 2018. By December, he had filed a report stating he was OK, but was leaving and shouldn't be considered a missing person.

After not hearing from him on Thanksgiving, they began to worry.

“You know I just thought it was really weird I hadn’t heard from him. (I thought) I’ll just give him a couple of hours,” Catherine said.

The Sunday following Thanksgiving, Jacob's parents called the front desk at Kohl Hall, as they still had not heard from their son. Staff members checked his room and found no one.

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