Police suspect Larry Schnackenberg chose to disappear

LENEXA, Kansas - Police suspect Larry Schnackenberg disappeared on his own free will, but the Lenexa man's family members say he still hasn't explained to them what happened.

But the missing details did not temper the sheer joy they felt upon news that Schnackenberg had been found alive. Brothers David and Michael Schnackenberg said they received the good news in a phone call from their mom.

"It's surreal. For three weeks to not know if we would have a dad again and then all of a sudden to have him back," said Michael Schnackenberg during a Thursday press conference.

"I've cried a little and had a stupid ear-to-ear grin on my face nonstop," said David Schnackenberg. "I couldn't be happier."

How he survived for three weeks in the woods and why he went missing in the first place remains a mystery.

Police say there's no evidence of a crime and there's no law against disappearing on your own free will and that's what police believe happened.

"If you really wanted to be found, it wouldn't be too hard to be found," said Sgt. Chris Pennington with the Johnson County Park Police, pointing to the nearby trail and sports complex. "On the other hand, if he did not want to be found, there are plenty of woods and places to hide."

Soon after a park employee discovered Schnackenberg along a walking trail in Shawnee , posters on the Facebook page dedicated to finding him started to asking questions about whether they were deceived.

“It's personal information,” searcher Michael Christ said.

Christ who designed the page's ribbon is defending the family's right to not answer questions.

“If it's anything other than foul play, it's really none of the public's business,” Christ added.

Christ was among hundreds who searched Shawnee Mission Park when family members discovered Schnackenberg's missing car three weeks ago.

Other people argued that the public nature of the search and taxpayer dollars spent of the effort are a reason they are owed an explanation.

"I think since the authorities were called and the public was asked to help look for him, I don't think it's right to say it's nobody's business," said a caller on the 980 Live with Darla Jaye talk radio show on KMBZ.

Lenexa police say Schnackenberg has not confirmed he left on his own.

"Just the fact that there's no evidence to the contrary. There's no evidence that anything else happened,” said Dan Friesen, spokesman for the Lenexa Police Department.

A family friend who visited Schnackenberg at the hospital says he is disheveled and dehydrated.

Family members say Schnackenberg is talking with detectives, but breaks down every time the topic turns to the circumstances surrounding his disappearance. For now, family members are not pressing for him to fill in the blanks.

“It's come up a couple of times and it's really pained him to talk about it, so we're focusing on just being happy to have him back in our lives and be there for us,” said David Schnackenberg.

Schnackenberg's daughter, who postponed her wedding during the search, was expected to fly into town on Thursday evening to see him.