Interesting Case

There is this missing person case our of Atlanta.  A commander in the Public Health Service has gone missing.  Hasn't been seen in two weeks.  Police say that there is no evidence of foul play.  Also no evidence of where he went.  It's odd, interesting, and certainly frustrating to the police, the National Health Service, and his family.

I remember, back in 2001, I had retired from one agency and was a private investigator.  A family contacted me with a missing person case and asked me to look into it.  The basic facts were that this fellow had raised a family through college.  Took care of all his family obligations.  Then, one day  he just went away.  Gone.  He had been gone for about ten years.  They asked me to look into it.

I told them that I would, on one condition.  It's not against the law to go missing, and the guy might not want to be found.  I told the family, I'd look, but if he told me to keep his secret, I would.

It took me about ten minutes to find the guy.  This was the dawn of what we routinely call the internet, and I found a phone number for him pronto.  Talked to him on the phone.  Told him that his family was concerned.  He said that he would call them, but he really didn't want any contact.    I told him I'd tell them that, so I called the family and let them know that he was okay, but that if he wanted to reach out, he would.  It's not against the law to go missing.

This guy in Atlanta, I suppose, is a totally different case.  It will be interesting to see if they find him.