On December 4, 2006, he talked to someone and he sent a few e-mails. Then he was never heard from again.
Haataja was a math professor at Chadron State College in Nebraska. The campus is about 300 miles northeast of Denver.
He had only worked there for a few months.
He is remembered as a quiet man who taught trigonometry, college algebra and calculus.
On March 9, a man working on a ranch just to the southeast of Chadron found Haataja's body. He doesn't like to talk about what he found and worries he could harm the investigation.
Clearly it was not a pretty sight.
On Wednesday, investigators said Haataja died of "smoke and soot inhalation combined with thermal injuries." They declined to elaborate.
Yet outside forensic experts say the autopsy shows Haataja was still alive when he breathed in the toxic levels of smoke and heat.
Haataja's sister tells us she cannot talk about the investigation and police don't want to talk about the investigation either.
People who live in Chadron have no idea what happened to Haataja. However, there is plenty of speculation.
Some of the theories may be accurate. Some may not.
What is clear is there is a mystery in Chadron that grows stranger by the day. People ay, Haataja had dealt with depression. But when he left his home on December 4, his family says his refrigerator had fresh groceries in it. His car was still in Chadron and his family says he was excited about his new job at Chadron State.
Police are working with members of the Nebraska State Patrol to try to figure out exactly what happened to Haataja. If they are any closer to arriving at an answer, they simply will not say.
