Kleeschulte was last seen at approximately 4:30 p.m. in his hometown of St. Charles, Missouri. He was walking down Ken Drive towards West Adams at the time. A heavy thunderstorm affected the St. Charles area on the day of Kleeschulte's disappearance. A witness told authorities that Kleeschulte had been seen walking before the storm hit the neighborhood and afterwards. He has never been heard from again.

Authorities searched numerous man-made tunnels and caves in the area and also dredged streams in an effort to locate Kleeschulte, but no evidence was produced. Some people believe that Kleeschulte drowned in a flash flood which affected the region after the massive storm, but authorities and his family members believe he was abducted.

In 2007, investigators began investigating Michael J. Devlin for possible involvement in Kleeschulte's disappearance and in several other cases, including the 1991 disappearance of Charles "Arlin" Henderson, and the 2005 disappearance of Bianca Piper. Shawn Hornbeck, a fifteen-year-old boy who disappeared in 2002, and William "Ben" Ownby, a thirteen-year-old boy who was abducted in 2007, were both found alive and well in Devlin's house in January 2007. Ownby had been missing for five days and Hornbeck for over four years. Both boys had been held against their will by Devlin, who subequently pleaded guilty to kidnapping and child molestation and was sentenced to life in prison. Authorities initially suspected Devlin could be linked to other missing child cases, and formed a multi-jurisdictional task force to investigate this theory. In October 2007 the task force dissolved, as it could not find any evidence that Devlin was involved with children other than Hornbeck and Ownby.

Kleeschulte's parents still live in the house they resided in when he disappeared, and they hope for closure in his case. His disappearance remains unsolved.