$10K reward grows as Rutgers student vanishes — and a violent past resurfaces in NJ

✅Reward for tips on missing Rutgers student Mortimer “Morty” Wortman at $10,000

✅Wortman vanished near Route 571 in Jackson in November

✅A man tied to a prior violent encounter with Wortman was later granted PTI

JACKSON — As the reward for information leading to the location of a Rutgers student missing since November is increased to $10,000, the last person believed by his family to have seen him alive has been granted a sweetheart deal on charges stemming from a previous encounter with the missing 22-year-old.

Mortimer "Morty" Wortman was last seen on Nov. 21 near the Regional Day School parking lot off Route 571 in Jackson. Several searches by law enforcement in the nearby Collier Mills Wildlife Management and by his family have not located Wortman. His family has kept up hope for a positive outcome.

"We are still looking, still spreading awareness, we haven't lost hope nor will we ever until we get answers," his brother Ivan Marks wrote on his Facebook page.

Jackson Mayor Jennifer Kuhn and Councilman Christopher Pollack put up a $2,000 reward in January for information that leads to the "finding and safe location" of the 22-year-old. The group CUE Center for Missing Persons has increased the reward to $10,000 thanks to an anonymous donor.

"The $10,000 reward is being offered with hopes that the people or person who knows something will come forward and share what they know so that we can bring Morty home. The family is desperate for answers and needs their loved one back where he belongs with them," Lisa Valentino, CUE's New Jersey outreach coordinator, told New Jersey 101.5 in an email. "The family asks that you put yourselves in their shoes and remember, every missing person is somebody's child."

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Court orders, anger management and pending hearing

Wortman is 5 feet 10 inches and 200 pounds with light skin, dark brown hair and brown eyes. He has a nose piercing and several earrings in both ears.  There is a tattoo of a star on his left thigh and a goat and jester tattoo on his right arm.  Anyone with information is asked to contact Jackson police at 732-928-1111.

The wild card in the investigation for Wortman is Adam Zalouk. Marks believes that his brother met Zalouk at the school on the day he disappeared and is disappointed that the police have not talked to him. Wortman told NJ.com there is a video showing Zalouk getting into Wortman's car.  The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office, however, said it does not disclose details about any ongoing investigations. Zalouk has not been charged with any crime related to the disappearance.

Zalouk was in court in December on charges that he pulled a knife on Wortman on July 26 when Wortman turned down Zalouk's request for sex.

Point Pleasant Beach police say Zalouk then carved the word "slut" on Wortman's car, got into his own car and rammed Wortman's car twice before driving off. The entire incident was captured on video by Wortman. Zalouk was charged with third-degree terroristic threats, third- and fourth-degree weapons offenses and fourth-degree criminal mischief.

According to News 12 coverage of the hearing, a Superior Court judge ordered Zalouk to attend an anger management program and not leave the country.

Court records show that Zalouk was granted pre-trial intervention in January and has a hearing on Monday. Pre-trial intervention allows first-time offenders to avoid incarceration and a guilty plea on their record.

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