Thank you for taking the time to read about Isaac and Shukree’s disappearance, we would love it if you could share his story and feel free to ask any questions. There are many things we haven’t thought about. The following is an account from what I have experienced and information that I have learned. Sincerely, Abigail Danian (Isaac’s mom):

Labor day weekend 2020

My husband (John), daughter (Amelia), son (Henry) and myself (Abigail) left town to visit family near Chicago. Calvin Isaac, who we call Isaac decided to stay home because he was scheduled to work at a pizza place (Alfano’s Italian Restaurant)  where he was recently hired. While away, Isaac called us about a “great opportunity” he had in Hawaii. He told us he would need to leave right away. When we asked for details Isaac said “I would tell you if I could, but I cannot”. Obviously we did not support this impulsive quest and asked Isaac to remain home so we could discuss in person. On our way back home, we were unsure what Isaac had decided so continued to try and call him. Upon arriving back home it was apparent to us that Isaac did leave for Hawaii. His car was gone, he was gone and we found packaging for a burner phone on our kitchen counter. The next day John found Isaac’s car parked at the Gerald R Ford airport in Grand Rapids. The Kent County Sheriff's department has since confirmed that Isaac did in fact arrive in Kona, HI on September 7, 2020.  On this date we received a phone call from Isaac letting us know he made it to Hawaii and was having to quarantine. We talked about how beautiful it was, even though he couldn’t leave wherever he was staying. Every time we talked I made an effort to get more details but was never successful. We now know that Isaac left for Hawaii after seeing a recruitment video posted by Matthew Logue (Matthew Mellow), who also refers to himself as Mortekai (as I will also refer to him) and Abdul Rashed Shukree Hassan Dewoud (who I will refer to as Shukree). Note Shukree is also missing! 

Over the next few weeks, Isaac called us continuously to let us know he is okay and to check in. He still would not provide me with any information but always alluded to some sort of event that was to take place and told me that after this event he will be able to give me more details. I asked questions like “will anyone be hurt”, “will you be doing anything illegal” in which he always reassured me “no nothing like that”. The last phone call Isaac made to me was October 4, 2020. This time he told me that even after the “event” it would be better if he still didn’t tell me anything about what he was doing or who he was with. During this phone call, Isaac let me know that I would not be hearing from him for about 30 days and he wanted to give me a heads up, so that I would not worry about him during this time. I understood that I would be hearing from him after the 30ish days. I think we ended the conversation with me asking him to be safe and us both sharing our love for each other and me asking for some pictures.  Isaac sent me a couple of photos of him on a boat with some fish and a couple of different men who I did not recognize.  On this day Isaac also made phone calls to my sister, Naomi and my mom, Nita. Naomi was able to find out that Isaac stayed with a few men in their 20’s but that was all the information she could get. We now know, this is the day, 2 sailboats left Hawaii together, sailing to the South Pacific. Sailboat #1  (Zulu Time) included Captain Mike Schmidt, Shukree and Isaac. Sailboat #2 included Captain Jeff McKinley, Mortekai and his mother Petra. 

According to Captain Jeff McKinley of Sailboat #2, during the time Isaac was in Hawaii he and Shukree practiced bodyboarding. Shukree did not have a passport so Jeff told that, it was their plan to be dropped off about one mile out from the Cook Islands and then to bodyboard in. Isaac did have a passport but according to Jeff, because Shukree was not a strong swimmer, Isaac agreed to sneak onto the island with him. 

GPS coordinates confirm the routes both boats took (see the documents page for details). At one point the two boats went in separate directions due to a disagreement between the two captains on the route (the captain’s logs, also in the documents section, provided us with this information). Although the two boats traveled “together” as “buddy boats” this does not mean they were physically close enough to see each other or make contact without satellite phones. The boat Isaac was on, Zulu Time/Boat #1, sailed from October 4, 2020 until November 27th, 2020. We have time stamped photos of Isaac and Shukree holding up fish on the boat, from this time.

November 27th, 2020 Zulu Time arrived in Wallis and Futuna and used the GPS to send an email announcing their arrival. Officers Major Lionel Boulet and Jean-Michel Martin are informed of the Zulu Times arrival in front of Honikulu pass, south of Wallis. The two officers and customs officer Loicc Tuivai (brought in to translate) use a speedboat to meet with the Zulu Time. The officers noted the presence of three men. The fact that these men are officials provided us with enough evidence to know Isaac made it this far. It eliminated the possibility that the Cook Island plan was carried out. The officers specified to the captain that they cannot disembark on the territory until after Covid tests are done. The officers showed them the route to enter the pass and asked them to follow. During this attempt the vessel had difficulty maneuvering across the pass and had to give up entering the lagoon. The officers told the captain they will contact a civilian who can tow them in. Later on that day (4:10 PM) Lurent Mercier arrives and offers to tow them for about $260-$350 USD. Captain Mike declined this offer and decided to wait until the next day to try and return by his own means. 

Saturday 11/28/2020

12:11 PM the sailboat Zulu Time signaled by email that they entered the lagoon by Honikullu fairway. 

12:17 PM Captain Mike announced by email that his two passengers jumped overboard, after having cut the radios so that he could not alert authorities. He told them the reason for their escape was the refusal to take Covid tests. 

2:00 PM searches begin.

A report from an off duty gendarme and a policeman state at 1:30 PM they received a call from the Commanding Officer of the gendarme of Wallis & Futuna that triggered a sea rescue operation in relation to the Zulu Time. They state that they sailed towards la Passe around 2:00 PM and at 2:30 PM were in the area and started to search around the islets of la Pasee and les Lepreux. According to them, this time of day the tide is just starting to rise, the current is strong and the wind blows towards west/northwest. The men boarded the ship and took pictures at 2:52 PM of the Garmin GPS screen, on which the coordinates of where the two people supposedly jumped are displayed. The GPS pinpoints the location 400 meters NE of the Ilot de la Passe and 400 meters south of the ilot des Lepreux. 

Since the winds and current pushed east towards the Faioa islet, the entire reef between the fairway and FAIOA was searched, as well as the main channel. They landed on Ilot de la Passe where people from ADSUP confirmed having seen the sailboat passing by. Mr. Rover Frederic confirmed having seen two men on the sailboat as it passed. However, nobody saw anything in relation to two men jumping overboard. They did not see people reaching the Ilot de la Passe swimming either. The search continued and at 5:00 PM they were ordered to escort the sailboat towards the anchoring point in Gahi bay. After the sailboat is towed, the wind is completely stopped. Operations end at 11:00 PM. 

At least 9 witnesses were interviewed. None of whom saw two men jump from the boat. The witnesses who approached Captain Mike all indicated that they were surprised by his relaxed demeanor and lack of panic. One witness, Joubert Cynthia Moulini,  contradicted the route Captain Mike described and stated that she saw the boat sailing towards the south. This means it was possible that Captain Mike dropped Isaac and Shukree on an uninhabited island where they could have been picked up. These witness statements can be found in documents D1 a D35. 

The French investigation produced several different hypotheses as to what happened to Isaac and Shukree. The determination is made that the most likely hypothesis is that the two men jumped off the boat and drowned. It is important to note, to our knowledge, no remains from either Isaac nor Shukree have been discovered. Other hypotheses included but were not limited to: 

-Isaac and Shukree threw themselves into the lagoon and took refuge on an islet. No trace or clues have been found thus far and it is stated that it is impossible to survive so long on an uninhabited, mosquito-infested island. 

-Isaac and Shukree managed to reach UVEA where they went into hiding. There was no trace of life e.g. bank or telephone activity from either person found. Furthermore, it’s believed that Wallis is too small to go undetected. 

-There were criminal acts on board the Zulu Time. Police operations found no trace of violence on the boat. You can find these hypotheses in more detail on documents “373 a 374”.

Although the French investigation determined what they believe to be the most likely scenario, we remain hopeful that Isaac is alive. In August of 2021 I was presented with a story of kidnapping and human trafficking. The person who told me this story was interviewed by the detective on this case from the Kent County Sheriff's department in Grand Rapids, MI who determined the information to be false. Is a situation like this possible? The testimonies provided no real motivation for Captain Mike to sail Isaac and Shukree across the South Pacific. Furthermore, Captain Mike’s lack of urgency and panic made his story even more questionable. If this really happened, why didn’t the captain try to save my son? Captain Mike had time to send an email and said he saw them swimming. What could possibly prevent someone from, at the very least, throwing them a life raft? What about the witness who saw the boat sailing from north to south? Her statement seems confident and believable. Is it possible that Captain Mike had Isaac and Shukree picked up off the uninhabited island? The GPS route and texts during this time were deleted. What happened to them and what a HUGE coincidence. The investigation also told us that Captain Mike disposed of Isaac and Shukree’s belongings right away…and finally Captain Mike reached out to me, offering information in exchange for the French investigation. His very own words on a text message stated “tell her I will reciprocate as soon as I can with the whole story to her. There is a lot more that is not in the file that happened she may or may not want to know”. 

You also need to know about Boat #2. We learned from the investigation that the three people Jeff McKinley, Matthew Logue aka Mortekai and Petra Logue landed safely on Bora Bora. We have since learned that Mortekai changed his legal name to Matthew Mellow. Mortekai continues his fundamental religious evangelism and recruiting. Although Mortekai posts videos, sometimes daily, those monitoring his videos have not found mention of Isaac and Shukree and the fact that they are missing from the mission he recruited them to go on! I have been told that Mortekai continues to recruit young men in their 20’s to go to him in the South Pacific and that no money or passport is needed. 

Jeff McKinley has since returned to the United States and resides in Hawaii. Mike Schmidt was also released back to the US in May of 2021 where he now lives in California. No criminal convictions have been brought against him, at this time, for his negligence or criminal activity for losing my son. All the players in this story who contributed to Isaac’s disappearance have sordid pasts. You can read about the disturbing relationship between Mortekai and his mother in documents D115 a D124 from Captain Jeff’s testimony. In addition to this shocking information we also learned from the investigation that Mortekai’s financial means are not clear and it seems like there is something nefarious going on. In addition to this, he has a history with gun incidents. It appears that his mother Petra takes advantage of some welfare benefits and knows how to work the system. Jeff who has been the most helpful in this crazy mixed bag of nuts, is listed as a sexual predator. 

I find it very hard to take any of the stories, from these people, at face value. I believe Isaac is out there somewhere and that if we could have access to Mortekai and Captain Mike’s financial records we might find out where my son is. My hope for this website and any media attention is to put pressure on officials to continue investigating. Please feel free to get involved and ask me any questions. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to read Isaac’s story…