Jacob J. Wiebe – Captain, United States Marine Corps

Captain Jacob J. Wiebe, United States Marine Corps, died August 22, 2001 in an aircraft accident near Yuma, Arizona, where he was participating in military training maneuvers. He was 32.

Jacob was born at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, and he grew up in Orange Park, Florida. He attended high school in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1993.

Jacob was an F/A-18 Hornet pilot with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 115, the ” Silver Eagles” from Marine Corps Air Station, Beaufort, South Carolina.

Interment was in Arlington National Cemetery on September 5, 2001 with full military honors conferred.

Jacob is survived by his mother and stepfather Judy and Bill Barrett of Middleburg, Florida; his father and stepmother Albert J. Wiebe and Sandra Wiebe of Paradise, Utah; his brother and family Matthew and Cheryl Wiebe, and their three children Jacob, Sarah, and Thomas of Fayetteville, Arkansas; his grandmother Marian Cassidy of Jacksonville, Florida; his half sister Joanna Kuskie of Pennsylvania; his step sister Deni Harbin, and her children Caleb, Hannah, Jared and Sarah of Ogden, Utah; his aunts Gail Williams and Cara Gapinski; his uncles Lieutenant Colonel Bill Cassidy, Lieutenant Colonel Buck Cassidy, Cidd Cassidy, and Carl Cassidy; also numerous cousins.

His family requests that in lieu of flowers, you honor Jacob with contributions in his memory to St. Jude Childrens Research Center, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, Tennessee 38105.


Friday, August 24, 2001

Marine pilot killed listed as Clay native

YUMA, Arizona — The Marine Corps pilot killed Wednesday in a crash at the Barry Goldwater Training Range was identified yesterday as an Orange Park native.

Captain Jacob J. Wiebe, 32, was killed when his FA-18 Hornet jet crashed about 42 miles east of Yuma. The cause of the accident is under investigation.

Wiebe was part of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 115, the ”Silver Eagles,” from Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina. A nine-plane detachment from the base has been in Yuma since August 6 for air-to-ground training. It was to return to South Carolina next week.

A call to the Wiebe home in Beaufort was not returned. It is not clear when he lived in Clay County.

Wiebe was in low-altitude air combat training when he crashed.

Officials at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma said the crash site was in a part of the Goldwater range not used for live-weapon training.

Wiebe entered the Marine Corps in 1993 from the U.S. Naval Academy. He had flown with Attack Squadron 115 for the past three years.

A memorial service is planned after the squadron returns to South Carolina.

The Hornet is the standard fighter for the Marine Corps and the Navy and was used extensively in strikes against Iraq during the Gulf War.

A Navy pilot was killed in May when a Hornet crashed in Florida northeast of Lake Okeechobee during a training flight.


Thursday, August 23, 2001

Local Marine pilot dies in crash

YUMA, Arizona — The Marine Corps. pilot killed Wednesday in a crash at the Barry Goldwater Training Range was identified Thursday as an Orange Park native.

Captain Jacob J. Wiebe, 32, was killed when his F/A-18A Hornet jet crashed about 42 miles east of Yuma. The cause of the accident is under investigation.

Although Orange Park is listed as Wiebe's home of record, officials at the Clay County School Board said there is no record of him graduating from high school in the county.

A Jacob J. Wiebe is listed as having registered a car in Clay County in 1998, officials with the Sheriff's Office said yesterday. The residence on that registration came back as a home in Middleburg.

Currently, there is no address listed under the captain's name in Middleburg.

Wiebe was part of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 115, the ”Silver Eagles,” from Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, S.C. A nine-plane detachment from the base has been in Yuma since August 6 for air-to-ground training. It was to return o South Carolina next week.

Wiebe was in low-altitude air-combat training when he crashed. Officials at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma said the crash site was in a part of the Goldwater range not used for live-weapon training.

Wiebe entered the Marine Corps in 1993 from the U.S. Naval Academy. He had flown with Attack Squadron 115 for the past three years.

A memorial service is planned after the squadron returns to South Carolina.

The Hornet comes in one- and two-seat versions. It is the standard fighter for the Marine Corps and the Navy and was used extensively in strikes against Iraq during the Gulf War. It also is the plane flown by the Navy's Blue Angels
demonstration team.

A Navy pilot was killed in May when a Hornet crashed in Florida northeast of Lake Okeechobee during a training flight.


SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2002 By Ron Wood
THE MORNING NEWS

FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas —The brother and mother of a military aviator who died in a plane crash last year have sued a Michigan woman and her daughter, saying the older woman was behind an elaborate Internet scam aimed at fleecing the family in a time of mourning.

The scam was done by fabricating a non-existent relationship between the woman and Captain Jacob J. Wiebe and inventing entire groups of people who also did not exist for the purpose of ripping off the grieving family, according to Mark Henry, the family’s attorney. The family’s suit claims the woman used fraud, forgery, extortion and deceit to get money, and then continued to harass and distress the family after his death.

Wiebe was killed in an airplane crash August 22, 2001, while on active duty with the U.S. Marine Corps. Wiebe was a former Fayetteville resident and his brother still resides here.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Fayetteville by Matthew Wiebe and Judy Wiebe-Barrett, claims that Jean Esselink and her daughter, Andrea Akkashian, and up to 10 John Doe ”defendants conspired to defraud Captain Wiebe using numerous aliases while communicating with him via telephone and e-mail.

Esselink, who is believed to be about 50, used the alias of Riley McKenna, the name of an Olympic athlete, and a photo of her daughter, who is in her mid-20s, to get Wiebe to send her money and property.

After Wiebe’s death, the suit says, Esselink began using up to 50 aliases in an attempt to convince family members, including Judy Wiebe-Barrett, that Wiebe and “Riley McKenna ”had an ongoing relationship and to ask them for money.

“It was a complete fraud,” Henry said Friday. Esselink would also covertly post fictitious and unauthorized entries on a Web site honoring Captain Wiebe, according to the suit.

Esselink allegedly claimed to be many different people, including Olympic athletes and television producers. The suit contends that, after Matthew Wiebe became suspicious and instructed the webmaster of Web site honoring Captain Wiebe to prohibit further postings by “Riley McKenna,” Esselink continued to post harassing messages. She also continued to solicit other family members and targeted and perverted the family ’s grief.” She further made efforts to alienate Matthew Wiebe from his remaining family because of his attempts to minimize her ability to add postings to the Web site.

The suit claims that Esselink communicated daily with family members using a variety of aliases and eventually alienated Matthew Wiebe to such an extent that family members re fused to speak with him. Then, Esselink, again using an  electronic alias, told family members that “Riley McKenna” had been driven to suicide by Matthew, causing further alienation.

The suit contends that Esselink “intentionally exploited the grief associated with the death of Captain Wiebe and invaded the privacy of plaintiffs with a fraudulent intent,” according to the suit. The suit seeks actual and punitive damages, an injunction prohibiting further contact with the family by Esselink and a finding of fact to prepare and assist in criminal prosecution.


Court Briefs For July 24, 2002
Wednesday, July 24, 2002

Defendant Wants Case Dismissed Or Moved To Michigan

FAYETTEVILLE — A Michigan woman, accused of creating an elaborate Internet scam aimed at fleecing or emotionally harming the family of a military aviator killed in a crash last year, wants the case dismissed or moved to her home state.

Captain Jacob J. Wiebe was killed in an airplane crash August 22, 2001, while on active duty with the U.S. Marine Corps. Wiebe was a former Fayetteville resident and his brother still resides here.

The Wiebe family alleges that Jean Esselink of Michigan perpetrated a scam by fabricating a nonexistent relationship between herself and Wiebe and making up entire groups of people to rip off the grieving family, according to the family's attorney.

The family's federal suit alleges that Esselink used fraud, forgery, extortion and deceit to get money from Wiebe when he was alive and then continued to intentionally harass and distress the family after his death, according to the suit.

Filed in U.S. District Court in Fayetteville by Matthew Wiebe and Judy Wiebe-Barrett, the suit claims that Esselink and her daughter, Andrea Akkashian, and up to 10 “John Doe” defendants conspired to defraud Jacob Wiebe using numerous aliases while communicating with Wiebe via telephone and e-mail. The family has since voluntarily dismissed Akkashian from the suit.

Esselink's motion, filed Tuesday, asks the court to dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction, arguing that none of the events alleged took place in Arkansas and that Esselink has never had sufficient contact with Arkansas to invoke jurisdiction. It argues further that, because Esselink was posting to the Internet, geographical location was immaterial.

The motion also asks that the case, if not dismissed, be moved to the Eastern District of Michigan to make it easier for Esselink, who is paralyzed from the waist down, to defend herself.

Esselink, who is believed to be about 50 years of age, used the alias “Riley McKenna,” said she was an Olympic athlete and sent Wiebe pictures of her mid-20s daughter to get him to send her money and property, according to the  suit.


Arlington National Cemetery: Section 54, Grave 4686

WIEBE, JACOB J

  • CAPT   US MARINE CORPS
  • VETERAN SERVICE DATES: 05/26/1993 – 08/22/2001
  • DATE OF BIRTH: 06/19/1969
  • DATE OF DEATH: 08/22/2001
  • DATE OF INTERMENT: 09/05/2001
  • BURIED AT: SECTION 54  SITE 4686
  • ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

jjwiebe-gravesite-photo-april-2006

We took this Photo Memorial weekend 2005, after laying patriotic flowers at Jacob's Grave, as a loving memory to one of my best friends. May all who see it smile and continue to remember him long after the flowers fade.
Lauralee Motis-Yow
Lieutenant John T Yow, USNA 00

Also with us were:
Lieutenant and Mrs. Michael Looysen, USNA 00
Lieutenant Colonel Raymond Tolomeo, USNA 86
Colonel Tolomeo's children, Nicholas and Brittany
Dr. Laura Weatherford

jjwiebe-1204

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