Stephen Mitchell Adams was a 26 year old from Talaqua, Oklahoma.

He was a busy guy going to school, having a job, and being a divorced father.

On December 13, 2004, Stephen had just gotten out of morning classes when he encountered an as-yet- unidentified person who needed a ride to a nearby town.

He was never seen again.

I'm going to Oh, Have you ever hitched? I've never done it and I'm guessing most of you haven't either.

But our lack of experience in this area is a fairly new cultural phenomenon.

My father who is 82 has several stories of hitchhiking from Apollo, Pennsylvania to Slippery Rock University

when he was a student there in the mid 1950s.

My brother Brian, who is 67, has several stories of thumbing for rides in the early 1970s.

But sometime between then and the 1980s, when I first learned to drive, my perception is hitchhiking

went by the wayside.

Maybe it's because cars became more affordable to more people.

Maybe it's because of the increase in public transportation.

Or it could be the public

started figuring out that hitchhiking wasn't the safest way to travel.

I mean who knew who was going to pick you up?

But you should know until the 1980s, hitchhiking whether on to

covered wagons in the 1800s or onto AMC Pacers in the 1970s was a popular

choice for most people.

I bring this up because it seems in the case of Stephen Adams,

he picked up someone after morning classes in Talliqua, Oklahoma,

and was driving this person toward Keys Oklahoma

...