Search continues for missing Jackson college student

Authorities are still searching for a 22-year-old Jackson man missing since Nov. 21 after he was last seen in the woods at Collier Mills Wildlife Management Area.

Mortimer “Morty” Wortman was last spotted around 10:30 p.m. near the High Bridge Road entrance and is considered missing and endangered. He is 5’10”, about 200 pounds, with dark brown hair and eyes, and was last seen wearing a black T-shirt, burgundy sweatshirt, and blue jeans.

Jackson Police Chief Matthew Kunz said township officers and the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office are using “every available investigative tool.” Police have conducted repeated searches of the 12,000-acre preserve, with state and local agencies returning Dec. 6 as the search expanded.

Wortman, a college senior, was last seen on surveillance video getting into a car with a friend at the Regional Day School in Jackson that night, according to his brother, Ivan Marks. Wortman’s car was found in the school lot, and Marks said the friend seen in the video has not cooperated in the search.

A GoFundMe launched by Wortman’s family to support search efforts has raised almost $20,000.

Anyone with information is asked to call Jackson police at 732-928-1111 and press 0 for the on-duty dispatcher.