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A missing man turns out to have six different wives.
CASE DETAILS On September 27, 1980, Jack and Caroline Lutter were married in Lake Tahoe. Jack was a flight engineer for United Airlines, and Caroline was working as a marine biologist. According to Caroline, theirs was a happy marriage until August, 1986, when Jack disappeared:
 Jack & Caroline Lutter For four weeks, Jack didn’t call and Caroline had no idea where he had gone. The situation worsened when their son, Jonathan, was diagnosed with a hernia and needed immediate surgery. Caroline called the airline to try to find Jack. When she spoke to his supervisor, she got news she never expected–other women had also been calling about her missing husband:
 Jack & Fatima Lutter Caroline discovered that some of those women were not just girlfriends, but Jack’s wives. For years, Jack Lutter had successfully created a life of bigamy and an intricate financial network that supported six condominiums, six houses, a fifty-foot yacht, and at least fifteen children. Jack’s wives all had one thing in common–they were all from male-dominated cultures where women seldom question their husband’s actions. He initially met each of his wives through chance encounters. One of them, Fatima, fell under his spell on an airport bus in Seattle:
A few months later, Fatima and Jack Lutter were married in Reno. She unknowingly became his fifth wife. They moved to San Francisco, where they had two children. But not all of Jack Lutter’s women were married to him. Theresa, whom he met in 1980, was his common-law wife. They met in Denver, had a child, and then moved to El Paso. Like his other wives, Theresa believed she was the only person in Jack’s life:
 Fatima came across photos of his other wives Once Jack disappeared, his wives began calling each other. Theresa and Caroline slowly pieced together the true story of Jack Lutter’s numerous marriages. He had told his fifth wife, Fatima, about a condominium in San Francisco, where his grandfather supposedly lived. When she searched it, there was no grandfather. But Fatima did find a secret cache of Lutter’s personal belongings–including explicit sexual photos of his many wives:
Knowing that Jack always left his car at the airport, Caroline took a spare set of keys and searched it. In the trunk, she found checks and mortgage receipts for various properties he owned all over the country:
 Caroline found unexplained mortgage payments Caroline packed up Jack’s belongings, filed a missing persons report, and asked the police to investigate her suspicions of bigamy. Sergeant Keith May of the King County Police Department was the lead investigator on the case:
Jack Lutter’s wives all lived in cities on his airline routes. The system worked perfectly until the airline decided to promote Jack and change his routes. His complex web of lies began to unravel. Jack vanished, and for six weeks, none of his wives heard from him. Then, in the middle of the night, Jack called Caroline. He said he was calling from a payphone inside a Cuban prison, where he had been held captive after being shipwrecked off the Cuban coast. Now, he wanted to come home. Caroline knew he was lying, but to lure him back she pretended to believe him. Two days later, Jack called from the airport. Caroline had planned to alert the police. But that night she decided first to confront her husband, and then call the authorities. She insisted that they talk in a public place, so they drove to a restaurant near the airport. But by the end of their conversation, Caroline did not have the heart to turn Jack in:
Jack walked down the ramp and out of Caroline’s life forever. Then he simply went to the haven of another wife–Theresa. Although she also knew of her husband’s infidelities, Theresa neglected to turn him in as well. Jack Lutter lived with Theresa in El Paso for six months. Then in March of 1987, he was fired by the airline and disappeared yet again. According to Sergeant May, this time his vanishing act was permanent:
Update: Jack Lutter was finally captured after he was spotted at Los Angeles International Airport. He was taken to Seattle and convicted of bigamy. He served his sentence of 90 days and was released on probation. But he violated his probation by disappearing once again. A warrant for the arrest of Jack Lutter has been issued by a Seattle court. Watch this case now on Amazon Prime in season six with Dennis Farina. Also available on YouTube with Dennis Farina. Various seasons available now on Hulu. SUBMIT A TIP |
MICKIE
Charles Lutter was my step grandfather and father of John (Jack) Lutter. For whatever reason, when my grandparents died, I discovered a Webster’s Second Edition Dictionary in my grandfather’s possessions. Inside the dictionary was this hand written note, dated 1/6/67 that read, “Dead Dad, Enclosed is the dictionary which I have been selling for so long to pay fro my flying etc. I hope you get som use from it. I am still going to college working at United and Flying. Hope to see you this year sometime. Love, Johnny”
danielle
i think that is my grandfather omgosh lol
Chris
Somebody knows where this man is…
UM fan
His children should go on to 23andme or other DNA ancestry site and it’ll inform you of your DNA relatives. So if they all go on to the same site it’ll let them know they’re half-siblings. Then they’d be able to get in touch with their brothers and sisters. Only challenge is they’d all have to use the same DNA genetic testing and analysis site rather than different ones.
Mark Unsolved M Fan!
I cant belive this guy hasn’t been caught or charged in today’s social media, camera filled world we live in!
Amy
My former boyfriend was the son of John Lutter, and in the spring of 2006 John showed up at the home of his mother to see the family. No one was home, but he left a note saying he had been living in Las Vegas and that he would try stopping by again to see them. I broke up with my boyfriend shortly after that, so I don’t know if he ever ended up showing back up in Sacramento.
Jason Christie
He isn’t the only person working for the airlines who has done that. Upon reading a little about him, though, I would say his problem was more than womanizing. He seemed to have some sort of mental illness. I know a man who you’d never know was mentally ill. He’s good looking, successful, nice house, etc. But on a personal level, I know him from a angle that most people do not. He’s literally a sadistic maniac who secretly enjoys harming people emotionally any way he can. Most of his friends don’t know about that. He let his guard down with me one time.. and when he saw my surprise, he turned and walked away quickly out of fear or embarrisment or both. That time I know he feared his wife hearing our conversation. A genuine monster in his mind… walking amidst and working with normal people.
Chanita
Why Did He Have Six Different Wives?
Bill Blaski
He was a Mormon and was down with polygamy.
Nun yabiz
Wrong
Paul McLeod
Why did he do it?
Anonymous
He seems to have multiple profiles on facebook. Thought you guys should know.
hmmm
90 days? Really?…why is this a concern?
Anonymous
My wife was Jack’s roommate in San Francisco during 1983. He was a hermit who would come into his townhouse, go into his room and lock the door. He always sounded like he was building something in there. Most of all, you never knew when he would walk through the front door. Then when we saw him on AMW, we flipped.
Cynthia
Wow! That’s crazy!
Barbara
Any idea how old he would be now?
unsolved
Hi Barbara – Jack would be around 73 years old.
Esther
Have you people who had been on any flights seen this man flying or wondering around any of your flights ages ago? Have you people who were at the airport ages ago seen him walking around the airport? Contact the police before he goes on the run again.
Alan
One of his wives could have stopped him from leaving back in 2006 and this would have been solved back then. Has anybody seen him today?
Roger Gonzales
Was that at the time that he was leaving with Teresa, her son and your wife?