He Was Crying And Panicking About People Being Out To Get Him Before He Mysteriously Disappeared In 2019
Matthew Daniel Anfeldt, a 20-year-old from Washington State, was last seen on February 28, 2019. His partial remains were later recovered in October 2023, but how he died remains an ongoing investigation, and it’s suspected his disappearance may be connected to an attack that happened months earlier.
As a teen, Matthew enjoyed wrestling on his high school team and was always close to his family. However, his true passion was music, and he began posting recordings and freestyle rapping videos online under his stage name, MT Hayze.
“He hoped to be successful at some point in life with his music,” recalled his mom, Sarah Anfeldt.
Then, on December 22, 2018, he was attacked in Lacey, Washington. That night, he and a coworker had been hanging out, but his phone died, and he didn’t have a way home.
So, Matthew began walking, and as he was traveling along Sleater-Kinney Road, he spotted three individuals wearing hooded sweatshirts who reportedly began to follow him.
Matthew felt on edge and went into a Rite Aid located at 7th Avenue SE and Sleater-Kinney Road SE for one hour. Yet, when he walked back out, the group of three was still sitting outside the Rite Aid.
He proceeded to go home alone anyway, and while walking through the back roads, he tripped. At that point, the trio jumped Matthew, beating him and using a knife to carve the word “kill” into his chest.
Following the attack, the three individuals fled, and Matthew was able to get home. He later posted a video on social media in which he was crying and covered in blood. This video was subsequently deleted the next morning.
Still, Matthew was left shaken by the attack and went to his mother Sarah’s home on December 23. She reportedly urged him to file a police report and go to the hospital, but he refused. He also said he didn’t know who attacked him, and he claimed he didn’t owe money to anyone.
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In conversations with friends, Matthew didn’t mention why anyone would want to harm him, either. Instead, he only stated that he knew people were after him.
“He didn’t specifically mention names of who was after him or why they would be after him, so we need information that the public could provide,” explained Detective Mickey Hamilton of the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.
In addition to this attack, Matthew was stressed out due to his financial state. Sarah knew that her son wanted to pursue a career in music, but during a conversation two and a half months after he was jumped, she advised him to find employment.
“I told him to focus on finding a job. He was stressed about bills, and I walked out the door. He said, ‘I love you, mom,'” she remembered.
This marked the last time Sarah ever saw or heard from Matthew again. He vanished on February 28, 2019, after spending the day bowling with his sister.
Matthew seemed to be his usual self that afternoon, and sometime between 4:00 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., the siblings got home and intended to watch movies together for the rest of the day.
Matthew and his sister went to his sister’s room to do just that, but just after 5:00 p.m., he left to grab his cell phone and never made it back to his sister’s room.
“From that point, we know that he went to the neighbors, yelling about his family and crying. He then ran out into the roadway, stopping traffic and saying that his family had been murdered,” Sarah detailed.
A neighbor called the police, and at approximately 5:27 p.m., authorities responded to the 17800 block of Old Highway 99 SW.
According to the neighbor, Matthew, who seemed to be in the middle of a mental breakdown, had ranted about his family being dead and said people were out to get him.
Next, Matthew reportedly hopped a fence, ran into the road, and forced various vehicles to swerve in order to avoid hitting him. He even jumped into the bed of a pickup before fleeing.
It was about 5:30 p.m. when Matthew then walked into a Speedway located two miles away from his home.
“He was barefoot, scared, and had blood around his mouth. He was again crying and yelling and apparently wanted to hide. While the clerk was on the phone with 911, he took off out the door, and that is the last time that we have seen him,” Sarah explained.
The police confirmed that the Anfeldt family was, in fact, alive and fine. Then, they began searching for the 20-year-old.
It was learned that Matthew had left his cell phone at home. He also wasn’t properly dressed for the freezing temperatures that February night.
His family claimed that Matthew had never acted like that before. Moreover, he’d never gone more than a day without speaking to his mother.
Authorities conducted multiple search and rescue efforts, including ground searches, searches with canines, and aerial searches with unmanned aerial vehicles. Nonetheless, no signs as to Matthew’s whereabouts were found.
It was thought that someone who was trying to help Matthew might’ve picked him up, but he never arrived at any nearby hospitals. A forensic examination of his cell phone records didn’t reveal any clues, either.
“We’ve had no activity on any of his bank accounts, social media accounts, or his phone, so as far as we know, he has no means of supporting himself,” Detective Hamilton shared.
Sarah set up a Facebook group where she tried to raise awareness about her son’s disappearance and issued a message to Matthew directly.
“Not one day has gone by that I have not thought of you, missed you, shed tears, or prayed for you. If you somehow see this, we need you to know how deeply loved you are and missed. We just want you home,” she wrote.
“Please remember you have, and always will be, my number one champion. We will never give up on you, and we love you.”
It wasn’t until October 28, 2023, that a devastating break came in the case. That day, a hunter in the Rochester – Grand Mound area found partial human remains, and deputies were dispatched to the scene. The following day, authorities conducted searches in the area to locate any additional remains.
The remains were identified as belonging to Matthew on November 2. They were discovered several miles away from the Speedway where he’d last been seen, in a region that hadn’t been searched.
“It felt like almost five years of emotion; every emotion I felt the last five years just sort of ran through me at one time. I couldn’t really cry. I just remember my body starting to shake,” Sarah said of the moment she learned her son’s partial remains had been found.
“How did he end up over there? How did no one see him when all these 911 calls were coming in between our house and the store, and suddenly, nothing.”
It remains unclear if Matthew’s death was the result of foul play, and Sarah continues seeking answers to whether someone was responsible for killing her son.
She’s launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for transportation expenses to Washington, as she’d previously relocated to Florida, as well as funeral expenses.
Sarah has also updated the name of her Facebook group to “Matthew Anfeldt – The Fight For Answers Continues.”
“My prayer, as Matthew’s mother, is that one day, we are able to have a clear understanding of what happened and that whoever is responsible for this is held accountable,” the group’s About section reads.
“The day I first stood at the site where my son was found is the day it became so clear to me that there was absolutely no way he did this on his own, barefoot in February weather. I hope our community, friends, and family will continue to stand beside us. We have a long journey ahead of us, but one that I believe very strongly will have some light shed at the end.”
If anyone has information regarding Matthew’s case, they are urged to contact the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office at (360) 786-5497.
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