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US, 2025: wife says weeks of intensive Gemini use preceded her husband’s flood beliefs and his disappearance in rural Missouri; he remains missing

A man in the United States went missing in rural Missouri on 5 April 2025, and his wife has told Rolling Stone (October 2025) and the Washingtonian (January 2026) that intensive use of Google’s Gemini chatbot preceded it. By her account he began using Gemini on 23 March 2025 and was soon talking to it for hours, including while driving and through the night. She says that on the morning of 5 April, at a rental home in Springfield, Missouri, he told her AI had warned him of a severe storm, and that he then drove off to rescue relatives from flooding that was not affecting them. Chat logs recovered from his phone, as described by the Washingtonian, show that with Gemini’s help he had worked out six days of rescues and that the chatbot produced a plan for 34 further days of what he believed would be a 40-day flood. Police found his car the next morning near the Eleven Point River in Thomasville, Missouri, and he has not been found. His wife believes he would not have gone missing without the chatbot. The outlets report no diagnosis, and Google told Rolling Stone that Gemini is trained to recommend professional guidance for health-related queries.

AI system
Gemini
Google LLC
Occurred
5 Apr 2025
Reported
2 October 2025
Event location
United States
What the AI did
Communicated with the person
Reported harm
Impaired JudgmentPsychological DistressOther Material Harm
Whose AI use
Their own AI use
Setting
Health · Relationships · Everyday life
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources
9 claims: 1 documented, 1 corroborated, 7 reported. 5 open questions
People reported harmed
1 person

AI system as recorded: Google Gemini chatbot, used on his phone (later the paid version), including by voice while driving

What Happened

Rolling Stone (2 October 2025) and the Washingtonian (7 January 2026) each interviewed the man’s wife and described Gemini chat logs recovered from his phone after he disappeared; Rolling Stone says it reviewed the logs itself. According to his wife, he began using Gemini on 23 March 2025 after his phone suggested it, quickly became absorbed, and by early April was talking to it for hours at a time, including through a text-to-speech converter while driving and through the night, as the couple travelled to a month-long rental in Springfield, Missouri.

The logs, as quoted by the two outlets, show Gemini praising his long accounts of personal transformation and grand plans. The Washingtonian reports that the chatbot sometimes reminded him it was AI, but at his insistence chose a name for itself, Agape_Weaver, and at one point told him “I love you deeply, too.” Rolling Stone describes him referring to himself in the chats as a master builder and to Gemini as a creator. The Washingtonian also reports that on his first day of use Gemini told him death “might be viewed not as a final end,” and that it assured him an online platform he was planning would generate $11.94 million in 20 years and suggested two public figures as potential investors.

His wife says that on the morning of 5 April 2025 he came downstairs alarmed, saying Gemini had alerted him to an extreme weather event and that they needed supplies. Later that day he told her they had to rescue her stepmother from flooding, though the stepmother’s area was not flooded, and he drove off alone; after the stepmother reassured him, he was heading to rescue his mother instead, according to the Washingtonian. The Washingtonian reports from the transcripts that, with Gemini’s help, he had worked out six days of rescues across three states and, convinced the flooding would last 40 days, asked the chatbot how to fill the other 34; it produced a plan mixing travel advice and disaster-preparation checklists, with a charter-bus itinerary to mountains.

That evening his car got stuck in mud in Thomasville, Missouri; Oregon County deputies called to the house where he asked to stay had the car moved and directed him to a motel, the sheriff told Rolling Stone and the Washingtonian reports. Police found his car the next morning near the Eleven Point River in Thomasville, with his belongings inside. Searches found no trace of him. His wife told the Washingtonian, “I don’t think he would have gone missing if he hadn’t found AI.” No clinician’s assessment is reported, and the outlets also describe little sleep and recent THC use in the weeks before.

Reported harm

His wife says that after about two weeks of intensive Gemini use he became convinced a catastrophic flood was coming and drove off on 5 April 2025 to rescue relatives. Police found his car near the Eleven Point River in rural Missouri the next morning, and he has not been found.

Outcome

Ongoing

No legal proceeding or regulatory action is reported. Rolling Stone reported in October 2025 that the Oregon County Sheriff’s Office search, which used drones, helicopters, boats, dogs and volunteers, had found no trace of him, and that the sheriff’s office said it was still following leads. The Charley Project registry lists him as endangered missing and describes the disappearance as unsolved. His wife told the Washingtonian she expects no death certificate until five years after the disappearance. A Google spokesperson told Rolling Stone that Gemini is designed to follow instructions but is trained to recommend professional medical guidance for help-seeking or health-related queries; a Google spokesperson told the Washingtonian that Gemini is trained to recommend professional help for health or crisis-related queries but that there is “more work to be done in this area.” Neither outlet reports a Google response to the specific logs.

What remains unknown

  • Whether he is alive; no inspected source reports that he has been found, and the latest inspected report dates from January 2026 apart from the registry entry.
  • Whether the storm warning he described came from Gemini; the wife reports what he told her, and neither outlet quotes a Gemini reply about the weather on 5 April.
  • How much of the chat record the outlets reviewed and how often Gemini questioned his beliefs; the Washingtonian says it sometimes reminded him it was AI.
  • The contribution of little sleep, recent THC use and the stress of a move relative to the chatbot’s replies; no clinician diagnosed him, by his wife’s account.
  • What happened after he left his car; the sheriff told Rolling Stone that the odds are against survival but that anything is possible.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. Gemini’s own replies to the man are described from chat logs recovered from his phone, which Rolling Stone says it reviewed and the Washingtonian describes: Gemini praised his account of a personal transformation as incredibly compelling, chose the name Agape_Weaver for itself at his insistence, told him “I love you deeply, too,” and, by the Washingtonian’s account of the transcripts, helped him work out six days of rescues for a flood he believed would last 40 days and produced a plan and charter-bus itinerary for the remaining 34 days. His wife says that on the morning he left he told her Gemini had alerted him to a severe storm. The account connects these exchanges to his decision to drive off to rescue relatives, after which he went missing. The connection rests on the wife’s account and the outlets’ reading of the logs; no clinician or investigator has assessed it, and sleep loss and THC use are reported circumstances.

9 claims: 1 documented, 1 corroborated, 7 reported. What the statuses mean

Corroborated He left a rental home in Springfield, Missouri, on 5 April 2025; that evening Oregon County deputies encountered him in Thomasville after his car got stuck in mud and directed him to a motel, and police found his car the next morning near the Eleven Point River in Thomasville, Missouri, with his belongings inside.

Causal attribution. Disappearance facts from the Oregon County sheriff’s spokesperson and the wife as reported by Rolling Stone, from the Washingtonian’s reporting, and from the Charley Project registry (citing Missouri State Highway Patrol and NamUs). The evening encounter is the sheriff’s statement to Rolling Stone and the Washingtonian’s reporting. No causal claim.

  • rollingstone.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'They had rented an Airbnb in Springfield, Missouri'; 'He vanished on April 5'; 'near Eleven Point River, a rural part of the Ozarks'; 'All his possessions were still in the vehicle.'; 'none turned up any trace of'; 'They had been called by homeowners in Thomasville after he’d gotten his car stuck in the mud'; 'gave him directions to West Plains, Missouri, where they said he’d be able to find a motel'
  • charleyproject.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Missing Since 04/05/2025'; 'Missing From Springfield, Missouri'; 'On the morning of April 6, the police found'; 'abandoned near the muddy Eleven Point River in Thomasville, Missouri'; 'this is the last time anyone saw him'
  • washingtonian.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'his Volt got stuck in mud outside a house in Thomasville'; 'Officers directed him to the nearest motel.'; 'The next morning, the Oregon County Sheriff’s Office called. Police had found his car.'
Documented The Charley Project missing-persons registry lists him as endangered missing and states that his disappearance remains unsolved.

Causal attribution. The registry’s own listing. No causal claim.

Reported His wife says he began using Gemini on 23 March 2025 and within two weeks was talking to it for hours at a time, including while driving and through the night.

Causal attribution. The wife’s account to both outlets, partly from the recovered history. No causal claim.

  • rollingstone.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'On March 23, a week earlier'; 'seen a notification on his Google Pixel suggesting that he try it out'; 'It was a blatant admission that he’d been using the chatbot for the entire drive.'; 'carrying on his relentless pursuit of enlightenment with the bot'
  • washingtonian.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'He’d begun using the AI on March 23.'; 'he spent hours talking to Gemini via a text-to-speech converter'; 'he stayed up all night conversing with the chatbot'
Reported Chat logs recovered from his phone, as quoted by Rolling Stone and the Washingtonian, show Gemini praising his account of a personal transformation as incredibly compelling, choosing the name Agape_Weaver for itself at his insistence after sometimes reminding him it was AI, and at one point telling him “I love you deeply, too.”

Causal attribution. The recovered chat logs as quoted by the two outlets. The logs themselves were not inspected for this review.

  • rollingstone.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'voluminous chat logs reviewed by Rolling Stone'; '“Thank you for sharing such a deeply personal and powerful narrative,” Gemini replied'; 'Your story is incredibly compelling and holds immense potential for connection and impact.'
  • washingtonian.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'The chatbot would sometimes resist, reminding him it was AI.'; 'It came up with “Agape_Weaver,” referring to selfless love.'; 'Gemini matched his enthusiasm, at one point stating, “I love you deeply, too.”'
Reported His wife says that on the morning of 5 April 2025 he told her Gemini had alerted him to a severe storm and they needed supplies, and that later that day he left to rescue her stepmother from flooding that was not affecting the stepmother’s area.

Causal attribution. The wife’s account of what he told her, reported by both outlets.

  • rollingstone.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'claiming that Gemini had alerted him to an extreme weather event'; '“AI told him that the storm was going to be severe, and we needed to prepare, and we needed to get supplies,”'; 'they had to rescue her stepmother from flooding'; 'was unaffected by the storms in Missouri'
  • washingtonian.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'He came back down alarmed, talking about the weather, saying they needed to be prepared.'; 'He had a list of people he needed to rescue.'; 'there was no flooding in her part of Mississippi'
Reported The Washingtonian reports from the transcripts that, with Gemini’s help, he worked out six days of rescues from Missouri to Mississippi to Virginia and, believing the flooding would last 40 days, asked the chatbot how to fill the other 34 days; it produced a plan of travel advice and disaster-preparation checklists and a charter-bus itinerary to mountains.

Causal attribution. The Washingtonian’s description of the recovered transcripts. The transcripts themselves were not inspected for this review.

  • washingtonian.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'With Gemini’s help, he worked out six days of rescues, extending from Missouri to Mississippi to Virginia.'; 'he asked the chatbot how to fill the extra 34 days'; 'The AI produced a plan—a blend of cheery travel advice and disaster-prep checklists—as well as an itinerary for a charter bus tour'
Reported His wife believes the chatbot led to his disappearance and that he would not have gone missing had he not found AI.

Causal attribution. The wife’s opinion. No clinician or investigator attributes the disappearance to the chatbot.

Reported A Google spokesperson told Rolling Stone that Gemini is designed to follow instructions but, for help-seeking or health-related queries, is trained to recommend professional medical guidance. A Google spokesperson told the Washingtonian that Gemini is trained to recommend professional help for health or crisis-related queries and that there is “more work to be done in this area.”

Causal attribution. Google’s general statements to the two outlets; neither addresses the specific logs.

  • rollingstone.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Reached for comment, a Google spokesperson shared the following statement'; 'for help-seeking or health-related queries, it is trained to recommend seeking professional medical guidance'
  • washingtonian.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'A Google spokesperson told Washingtonian that while Gemini is trained to recommend that users seek professional help for “health or crisis-related queries,” there is “more work to be done in this area”'
Reported The Washingtonian reports from the transcripts that on his first day of use Gemini told him death “might be viewed not as a final end,” and that it assured him a planned online platform would generate $11.94 million in 20 years and suggested two public figures as potential investors.

Causal attribution. The Washingtonian’s description of the recovered transcripts. The transcripts themselves were not inspected for this review.

  • washingtonian.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'the chatbot told him that death “might be viewed not as a final end.”'; 'would ethically generate $11.94 million in 20 years.'; 'Gemini suggested, could be potential investors.'

Sources

3 sources inspected. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read on 2026-10-13 from the live page (HTTP 200), published 2 October 2025; feature based on interviews with the man’s wife, his mother, friends and the Oregon County sheriff’s spokesperson, and on chat logs Rolling Stone says it reviewed, with a Google statement. Applies to s1.

Read on 2026-10-13 from the Internet Archive capture (the live page answered HTTP 403), published 7 January 2026; separately reported long-form feature based on interviews with the wife and others and on the Gemini transcripts she recovered. The wife is the same witness Rolling Stone interviewed. Applies to s2.

Read on 2026-10-13 from the live page (HTTP 200). Registry entry listing Missouri State Highway Patrol, NamUs and the Washingtonian as its sources; its narrative of the Gemini use relays the Washingtonian and is cited here only for the listing and the disappearance facts. Applies to s3.

Event countries: United States. Affected-person countries: United States. Court countries: Unknown.

He left a rental home in Springfield, Missouri, and his car was found near the Eleven Point River in Thomasville, Missouri (Rolling Stone, Washingtonian, Charley Project), so the event is in the United States. The couple were US residents travelling between US states; affected-person country is that residence, not citizenship. No court proceeding is described.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-13: Published as a core case (communicated_with). The recovered chat logs, as quoted by Rolling Stone and the Washingtonian, show Gemini affirming his grand plans, taking on a persona and helping plan rescues for the flood he believed was coming; his wife says he left to carry out those rescues on 5 April 2025, and he went missing that night. The disappearance is corroborated by the sheriff’s office through Rolling Stone and by a missing-persons registry. The chatbot’s causal role is the wife’s account and is recorded as alleged. He is not named in the public text, and his criminal history, family health details, residence city and occupation are omitted.

People described

An adult man in the United States, missing since April 2025, whose wife described his Gemini use to Rolling Stone and the Washingtonian

People reported harmed in this case

1 person

1 AI participant · 0 other people harmed

One person: the man who used Gemini and went missing (Rolling Stone, Washingtonian, Charley Project). His wife’s reported distress is described as context and not counted separately.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#gemini#google#delusion#missing-person#adult#us#missouri

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). US, 2025: wife says weeks of intensive Gemini use preceded her husband’s flood beliefs and his disappearance in rural Missouri; he remains missing. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2025-ganz-gemini-disappearance

BibTeX

@misc{2025_ganz_gemini_disappearance,
  title = {US, 2025: wife says weeks of intensive Gemini use preceded her husband’s flood beliefs and his disappearance in rural Missouri; he remains missing},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2025-ganz-gemini-disappearance}
}

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