Theodore Edwin Wenk

• Missing Since 06/29/1987
• Missing From Bastrop, Texas
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Male
• Race White
• Date of Birth 03/12/1946 (79)
• Age 41 years old
• Height and Weight 6'1, 180 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A sleeveless black t-shirt with "Wild World" imprinted on the front, blue jeans and moccasins with leather soles.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Gray hair, blue eyes. Wenk's nickname is Ted.

Details of Disappearance

Wenk was last seen by his seventeen-year-old son in Bastrop, Texas on June 29, 1987. His truck was discovered abandoned in a parking lot in the 1200 block of Rosewood Avenue in Austin, Texas shortly after his disappearance. It was seen there the morning after he was missing but wasn't reported as an abandoned vehicle for several days. There were no indications of foul play where the truck was found. Wenk left $70,000 in cash behind in a safe deposit box.

Wenk owned a roadside zoo on Texas 71 called Tiger Ted's Wild World, which became notorious after two supposed rare white tigers were born there in 1983. Wenk sold the white tiger cubs to the Oklahoma City Zoo for $90,000, and soon after both cubs' fur turned yellow.

He lived inside the zoo compound, and in September 1984, narcotics officers raided his home and as a result he was convicted of misdemeanor possession of a prescription drug without a prescription. He also had a conviction for weapons possession, and for two counts of conspiracy to smuggle parrots in 1986.

After Wenk's disappearance, his teenage son took over management of the zoo. It was shut down in 1990 after federal authorities raided the property; by then, only one lion and two wolfhounds were left. Wenk's son's exotic animal dealer license was suspended and the Department of Agriculture, which had issued many warnings about the zoo's substandard care and housing of its animals, took custody of the lion and wolfhounds.

Almost three years after Wenk's disappearance, in April 1990, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration confiscated his pickup truck, his Corvette and $70,446 from his bank account, on the grounds that these were the proceeds of illegal drug sales. Authorities believe he was probably murdered, due to his many contacts in the drug world.

His case remains unsolved.