Search is currently underway for 27-year-old Arizona professional mixed martial arts fighter and Rage in the Cage veteran Todd M. Whitzel, who has been missing for 12 days.Whitzel was last seen at a little neighborhood bar called “The Wagon Wheel” in Picture Rocks, Ariz., a subdivision on the outskirts of
Whitzel’s aunt, Michelle Estala, contacted ProMMAnow.com (www.prommanow.com) with the news over the weekend in order to get the word out to the MMA community, hoping someone may come forward with information regarding Whitzel’s whereabouts.
According to Estala, Whitzel was involved in an altercation against two men outside the bar when a group of men from inside came out and joined in. At this point, apparently a gun was pulled by a friend of Whitzel’s to keep the crowd at bay, giving Whitzel time enough to escape on his Harley Davidson motorcycle with his friend on the back.
Estala stated, according to the friend, Whitzel dropped him off at his home about four minutes away. He asked Whitzel to stay but he declined and said he needed to go. That was the last anyone has seen or heard from Todd Whitzel.
Whitzel’s aunt said his girlfriend made a call to his mobile phone at 3:01 a.m. early Friday morning, May 13. The phone was answered and she stayed on the call for 23 minutes calling out for Whitzel but all she could hear was the motorcycle, until finally, the bike shut off and she heard a dog bark but there was still no response.
She hung up and repeatedly tried to call back to no avail until around 5:30 a.m. when either Whitzel’s phone was shut off or the battery went dead.
Estala said Whitzel is not the type of person to just take off somewhere and not let anyone know. Aside from being close with his family he is also the single father of two young sons, ages four and two. The two-year-old lives with his mother, but Magnus, the four-year-old, lives with Whitzel.
ProMMAnow.com spoke with Whitzel’s mother, Glenda Whitzel, this morning via phone while she was in the desert searching for any signs of her son, or his motorcycle which is still missing. This is something she has been doing for the last ten days.
“We’re in the desert looking for buzzards to see where they’re landing, to see if we can find his body,” said Ms. Whitzel.
She said the Marana and Pima County police were currently attempting to get a court order to find the location of the tower where her son’s mobile phone was last used, a process that could still take another day or two.
There have been complaints from the family regarding the local law enforcement’s seeming unwillingness to get involved. Our call to the Marana Police Department regarding the case has not been returned.
Todd Whitzel never won a UFC title. Most of you have never heard of Todd. But the fact he was a professional mixed martial arts fighter means he was still part of this family, and the fact he was willing to get inside that cage and stand toe-to-toe with another man gives us at least an inkling of the type of person he is.
Todd’s last professional fight on record took place at Rage in the Cage 119 in Nov. 2008 at the Desert Diamond Casino in Tucson, Ariz. He defeated Joshua Bossardet via kimura submission in the third round.
If anyone has any information relating to Todd Whitzel’s location or this case please contact Sgt. Alvarez at the Marana Police Department in Marana, Ariz., at 520-382-2000.
Name: Todd M. Whitzel
Height: 5' 10?
Weight: 165 lbs.
Race: Caucasian
Hair: Brown
Recognizable features: Has an Ace of Spades tattoo on the back of head
Last seen: 5-11-11 on a 2007 Harley Davidson motorcycle near Tucson, Ariz.
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