In honor of Pride Month I’m featuring a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer missing person every day for the month of June. Today’s case is Jael Hilderbrand, whose legal name was William Wayne Hilderbrand. Although she was born male, she presented as a female. She disappeared from Bangor, Maine in November 4, 2010, at age 22.
Sadly, Jael, like many transgender individuals, apparently died by suicide, jumping into the Penobscot River just before midnight the day she disappeared. She was a good swimmer, but the river would have been deadly cold at that time of year, and she may have been drunk as well. Her body was never found, but there’s very little hope that she’s still alive.
Jael was Native American, of the Passamaquoddy Tribe. She had studied cosmetology.
The Charley Project Blog 