Joe Pichler

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Joseph "Joe" Pichler (born 14 February 1987 in Bremerton, Washington) is an American actor who has been missing since January 5, 2006.

1 Biography
2 Disappearance
3 Filmography
4 External links

[edit] Biography

The second-youngest of five children, Pichler relocated to Los Angeles as a child to pursue his acting career. He had some success, most notably appearing in several movies and television shows. With the exception of a handful of memorable supporting roles, he is probably most well-known for his recurring role as Brennan Newton in the third and fourth (direct-to-video) installments of the Beethoven movies -- family-oriented comedies about the antics of a mischievous St. Bernard.

In 2003, at the insistence of his family, he returned to his hometown (which is about 22 miles west of Seattle), and graduated from high school there in 2005. According to friends and family, Joe had planned to return to Los Angeles in the following year (after the braces were removed from his teeth) to continue with his acting career. At the time of his disappearance, Joe lived on his own in Bremerton across town from his parents, his younger brother Matthew "A.J." Pichler and his older sister Samantha.

[edit] Disappearance

Pichler disappeared on January 5, 2006. His car was found January 9 at the Manette Bridge adjacent to the Port Washington Narrows. Inside it was a note in which he said he was sorry that he hadn't been a better role model for his younger brother and asked that his belongings go to (then 17-year-old) A.J. However, he was not reported as officially missing by his family until January 16. At or around that date, the aforementioned note from the car was reported as explicitly suggesting that Joe may have been suicidal.

According to his family's reports to the media at the time, the last outgoing call on Joe's cell phone was placed at 4:30 AM on January 9, to a friend who had said that he had been drinking with Joe earlier in the day (while they were writing some poetry together). After driving another of his guests home, Pichler had called the friend in the early morning "upset about something." Reportedly, the friend "calmed him down," but no one has heard from Joe since.

His death has not been confirmed, although suicide is one of a number of scenarios that are still being investigated by police.

Since then, Joe's friends have kept a vigil of sorts via his un-updated MySpace page.