Jim Rankin was last seen by two business partners between 1-1:30 a. m. in the Denny's parking lot located at 1600 Broadway in Kansas City. The men saw Jim get into his 1978 Buick La Sabre with Texas plate REK-846. One month later, two men admitted to killing a cab driver in St. Louis and then driving to Kansas City. They happened upon Jim in the Denny's parking lot and kidnapped him. The men placed Jim in the trunk of his car and drove west. Somewhere in the Mojave Desert, in or near California, they shot Jim. His remains have yet to be found. He was declared legally dead in 1987.