Name: John Henry Jacobson
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: November 16, 1996
Location Last Seen: Bismarck, Burleigh County, North Dakota
Physical Description
Date of Birth: August 12, 1991
Age: 5 years old
Race: White
Gender: Male
Height: 3’0″
Weight: 47 lbs.
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Unknown
Identifiers
Dentals: Not Available
Fingerprints: Not Available
DNA: Available
Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: Hunter green winter coat with blue cuffs
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown
Circumstances of Disappearance
John was last seen on November 16, 1996, with his mother, Sandra. The two had made plans to eat dinner at Sandra’s mother’s home in the vicinity of the 1100 block of University Drive in Bismarck, North Dakota. While on her way back to her mother’s, Sandra called the Bismarck Police Department on her cellular phone.
She sounded very upset and said she believed satanic ritual abuse was taking place on a farm near Center, North Dakota. She said she called the Bismarck police rather than Center police or the Oliver County Sheriff’s Office because she did not trust them.
Sandra and John arrived at Sandra’s mother’s home at 7:30 p.m. Sandra appeared to be having mental health problems and she agreed to let her mother take her to the hospital. Before she went, however, she wanted to purchase gasoline. She and John were last seen leaving the residence in Sandra’s gray 1990 Honda Civic. They did purchase fuel, but they never returned to Sandra’s mother’s home and have never been heard from again. Sandra’s mother reported her daughter and grandson missing at 10:00 p.m. that same day.
Sandra’s car was found abandoned the next day, at the Centennial Beach parking lot near to the Missouri River in Bismarck. There was no sign of John or Sandra at the scene. The driver’s side door of the car was wide open, the keys were in the ignition, and Sandra’s purse was sitting on the front seat, its contents undisturbed.
Police searched the beach and the river and found a shoe that might have belonged to John. Strong river currents and severe weather hampered the search efforts and investigators could not search the river as thoroughly as they would have liked to. One theory is that Sandra murdered John and committed suicide by going into the river, but there is no hard evidence to support this.
Sandra separated from her second husband, John’s father, three months before she disappeared. She was living in an apartment in Center, North Dakota with John and her sixteen-year-old son by a previous marriage, Spencer Nastrom. Sandra was very close to her oldest son, and her mother raised him after her disappearance. Nastrom’s father was the victim of a homicide in 2005. He was run over by his own car and left to die in a ditch on a maintenance road north of Tuttle, North Dakota. His murder remains unsolved. Police stated there is no evidence pointing to foul play in the Jacobsons’ cases, and they have never had a suspect. Sandra was employed with the North Dakota Department of Transportation at the time of her disappearance.
The Jacobsons’ cases remain unsolved. They were declared legally dead sometime after their disappearances.
Investigating Agency(s)
Agency Name: Bismarck Police Department
Agency Contact Person: Sergeant Mark Gaddis
Agency Phone Number: (701) 223-1212
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: N9615745
NCIC Case Number: M-979544851
NamUs Case Number: 8710
NCMEC Case Number: 826663
The Disappearances of Sandra & John Jacobson
April 26, 2021
Sandra Jacobson was born on the 8th of December 1959. She worked for the North Dakota Department of Transportation and had two sons, five-year-old John and 16-year-old Spencer. She was said to be very close to her children, particularly Spencer.
Sandra was married twice, and both marriages ended in divorce. She and her sons were living in an apartment in Centre, North Dakota, a rural city in Oliver County, at the time of her divorce from her second husband, Alan.
Sandra and John were supposed to go to her parent’s house in Bismarck, North Dakota, for dinner on November 16, 1996. On their way there, Sandra called the Bismarck Police Department to report what she thought was satanic ritual abuse at a farm near Centre. When asked why she hadn’t called local cops, she said she didn’t trust the Centre Police Department or the Oliver County Sheriff’s Office. She sounded upset, according to the dispatcher.
Sandra and John arrived at her parents’ house around 7:30 p.m., near the 1100 block of University Drive. Her mother, Bernice Grensteiner, felt she was showing signs of mental distress while there – she had a history of mental health problems – and thus asked her to seek help from the local hospital. Sandra agreed, but first, she needed to fill up her car with gas. Sandra and Jacob were last seen leaving her parents’ house around 8:00 p.m., promising to return after filling up at a nearby gas station.
Bernice became concerned when Sandra and John did not return to her parent’s home by 10:00 p.m. and reported them missing. Sandra’s grey 1990 Honda Civic was discovered abandoned the next day in Bismarck’s Centennial Beach parking lot by police officers. The location is near the Missouri River. Her purse was on the front seat, and the driver’s side door was open with the keys still in the ignition. Her driver’s license was the only thing she didn’t have. The beach around the car was searched, and a shoe that might have belonged to John was discovered. The Burleigh County Sheriff’s Department dive rescue and recovery team attempted to search the river between Centennial Beach and the railroad bridge but found it difficult due to the swift current and ice in the water. As a result, they were unable to search as thoroughly as they would have liked.
The scene at Centennial Beach has led to speculation that Sandra murdered her son before committing suicide by jumping into the river. However, there is no hard evidence to back this up.
Investigators were able to confirm Sandra’s stop for gas at a local convenience store thanks to a receipt found in her vehicle. Sandra and John were spotted in Warroad, Minnesota in June 2004, but their identities were not confirmed.
The search for the couple was temporarily revived as a result of this, as the case had since gone cold. Sandra’s family has sought the advice of psychics in the hopes of learning more about her and John’s whereabouts. The couple has since been declared legally dead. Sandra’s dental records and fingerprints are available for comparison if her body is discovered. John’s DNA was also entered into a national database.
The investigation is still ongoing.
Alan Jacobson, who has since moved to Mandan, remarried a few years after Sandra and John went missing. Sandra’s mother raised spencer after she went missing. Spencer’s biological father was killed in the ditch of a maintenance road north of Tuttle, North Dakota, in 2005 by his own vehicle. His murder is still unsolved.
Spencer ended up marrying and having three daughters. Unfortunately, his wife died in 2009 from a rare form of strep throat. Sandra “Sandy” May Jacobson was last seen on November 16, 1996, in Bismarck, Burleigh County, North Dakota. She was 36 years old and was last seen wearing a blue sweatshirt, a blue down-filled jacket, blue jeans, glasses, and brown lace-up boots. She stood between 5’5′′ and 5’6′′ tall and weighed 145 pounds at the time of her disappearance. Her hair was brown, and her eyes were green. Her ears had been pierced.
On the evening of November 16, 1996, John Henry Jacobson was last seen in Bismarck, Burleigh County, North Dakota. He was five years old at the time and was last seen wearing a green winter coat with blue cuffs. There are conflicting reports about his height and weight at the time of his disappearance, with some outlets reporting he was 3’0″ and 47 pounds, while others say he was 4’8″ and weighed 75 pounds. His hair was light brown, and his eyes were brown.
Both cases are currently classified as endangered missing. Sandra would be 61 years old and John would be 29 years old if they were still alive.
Anyone with information about the disappearances should call the Bismarck Police Department at 701-223-1212.
