Authorities believe they have solved the mystery of an Olalla man accused of stealing his missing brother’s Social Security benefits for the past 20 years, but still unsolved is in the bigger mystery: What happened to Jarvis Sayler?

Chris Harvey Sayler, 72, is accused of fraudulently collecting Jarvis’ disability benefits — totaling about $500,000 — beginning in at least 1998. Chris, in custody at the Federal Detention Center in Seatac, is charged in U.S. District Court with aggravated identity theft and access device fraud.

Jarvis, who was visually impaired, was last seen in 1988 in Vancouver, where Chris lived. The last person to see him was Chris, according to a detective looking into the disappearance.

The investigation into the alleged fraud started in 2013 when state Department of Licensing facial recognition software flagged ID photos seemingly of the same person but with two different names: Chris Sayler and Jarvis Sayler.

The person applying for an ID card identified himself as Jarvis Sayler, but the card was not issued. Instead, a letter was sent to Chris Sayler, asking him to report to a Department of Licensing office to clear up the matter.

In 2016 Chris, who had moved from Vancouver to Olalla in 2013, went to a Bremerton Department of Licensing office, where he claimed the confusion stemmed from his twin brother, according to court documents.

When confronted with the fact that Jarvis was four years younger and therefore could not be his twin, Chris allegedly responded: “It is a rare situation, but it does occur.”

That led to the Social Security Administration's investigation, which is the basis of the charges. But it didn’t answer the next question: Where is Jarvis?

“They really can’t dive into it,” Clark County Sheriff's Office Detective Jon Shields said of the Social Security Administration investigation. “Chris stole his ID, but what about Jarvis? By all accounts, Chris was the last one to see Jarvis alive.”

Shields is opening a missing person’s case for Jarvis but said without further information, it won't get far.

Social Security records go back to 1998, Shields said, the year investigators believe Chris began cashing Jarvis’ checks, but it appears Jarvis’ checks continued to be cashed for the 10 years prior.

“The checks still got cashed, but Jarvis never showed up anywhere else,” Shields said. “From what I understand, if the checks had not been cashed, they would have reviewed the case obviously a lot sooner.”

In the summer of 1988, Jarvis rode a bus to Vancouver from Missouri to visit Chris, his adopted brother. Jarvis had purchased property in Missouri and his family expected he would return. When he didn’t, his family began to worry.

Jarvis’ brother in Missouri went to police there in August 1988 and filed a missing person’s report, saying it was out of character for Jarvis to not keep in touch with family, especially when he had plans to build a house.

A Clark County deputy contacted Chris to inquire about Jarvis’ whereabouts, but apparently Chris told the deputy Jarvis had rented an apartment. The two had an argument and Chris told the deputy he had seen Jarvis only once since then.

That essentially ended the inquiry in Washington state.

Police records from the time are sparse or non-existent. Clark County Sheriff's Office logs indicate Jarvis had been living in an apartment in the Hazel Dell area.

“He just didn’t come home one day,” Shields said, adding that investigators believe Jarvis rented the apartment there because logs from the era still exist that show he called the police to report prostitution activity in his complex.

“Chris was the last one ... that we know had seen Jarvis alive,” Shields said. “And he was the one who told local authorities here, the Sheriff’s Office in 1988, that Jarvis was fine.”

Shields said Chris is not a suspect in Jarvis’ disappearance, however, he said if he develops more information that points to Chris, he could apply for search warrants at locations in Clark County where Chris was known to frequent.

“I’m going to open a missing person’s case, the case will remain open, but absent any new clues, it’s just going to be suspended until something else comes along,” Shields said.

Those with information on the Jarvis Sayler's whereabouts can contact Shields by calling 564-397-2120.