The Jacobs Investigation
Harry J. Maihafer's book Oblivion (1996) documents the investigation conducted by Marshall Jacobs of Cadet Cox, who "vanished without a trace" from West Point in January 1950.
Jacobs, a retired history teacher, began his research on the Cox disappearance in 1985. The more involved he became the more intrigued Jacobs became with Cox and the prior inconclusive investigations. It was inconceivable to Jacobs that after 35 years this mystery had not been solved.
Jacobs thoroughly investigated the case, traveling all around the country following up on new leads and revisiting old leads. He interviewed Cox's family, friends, service pals, and classmates; CIA, FBI, and CID agents; and West Point and Army officials.
He researched West Point's archives and the files from the FBI, CIA, and CID investigations of Cox's disappearance, which he gained access to under the Freedom of Information Act. Jacobs conducted a comprehensive and thorough investigation that took him over eight years to complete.
When he was ready to reveal his findings Jacobs, admittedly not a writer, contacted Maihafer with hopes they could collaborate on a book. They did and the Jacobs investigation is revealed in Oblivion.
Maihafer writes: "Jacobs decided he had learned all he was going to, and he accepted the fact that neither he nor anyone else would ever know the full story. It was gratifying, nevertheless, to know that Cox had lived an honorable, patriotic life in the service of his country. Richard Colvin Cox was a complex, talented individual, and Jacobs would have liked to have met him and to have had a long talk. This was not to be. All the same, the research project, which along the way had turned into an obsession, could justly be called a success. Marshall Jacobs had "found" Dick Cox and brought him back from oblivion. The files could be closed."
Read more about this topic: Richard Colvin Cox
Famous quotes containing the word jacobs:
“There is a quality even meaner than outright ugliness or disorder, and this meaner quality is the dishonest mask of pretended order, achieved by ignoring or suppressing the real order that is struggling to exist and to be served.”
—Jane Jacobs (b. 1916)