Stanley Jacobson's friends and neighbors at the Hilltop Manor Senior Apartments in San Jose thought the 69-year-old man was still missing. But police announced on Thursday that the once-thought missing man was dead, found stabbed to death in his upper floor apartment early in the morning.
"We've been looking everywhere for him for the last three to four weeks," Mike Christian, Jacobson's friend and neighbor, said. "So this is a shock. I mean just total shock that this happened."
A suspect was arrested, but late Thursday, police had not identified him or her. Just how Jacobson went from being reported missing to being found in his apartment wasn't immediately clear. Police said they would provide a timeline on Friday. The Santa Clara County Coroner will determine how long his body was inside his apartment.
"He was missing all the way up to this morning when we located him," Sgt. Jason Dwyer, San Jose Police spokesperson, said.
A few weeks ago when Jacobson was first reported missing and considered at-risk because of his dementia, investigators were looking for a woman named Regina Butler. Neighbors at Hilltop Manor describe her as Jacobson's girlfriend. Benjamin Ramos says he talked to Butler just minutes after the body was found.
"Then I asked her the question, you are the last person to see Stan. What happened? What happened to him?" Ramos wondered.
Investigators say they are interested to find out more about anyone who had been with him before he was stabbed.
"What were the people that were with him doing? Were they trying to exploit him financially? Were they trying to target him? Obviously the person we have in custody is going to be interviewed and give a statement on what led up to this," Dwyer said.
This is San Jose's eighth homicide of the year.
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