Police in Ohio are trying to locate James "Alan" Lawson, a 41-year-old man who is missing under mysterious circumstances.
An Ohio man's sudden disappearance has baffled family members and investigators, who found his vehicle abandoned in West Virginia five days after he went missing.
Police in Huntington, W.Va., said they located a vehicle belonging to 41-year-old James "Alan" Lawson, on Thursday evening. The 1999 Ford Taurus was discovered in the parking lot of a baseball field in the 1900 block of James River Road in Huntington.
"We searched the car, but we didn't find any evidence," Sheriff Jeff Lawless, of the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office in Ohio, told The Huffington Post. "We also searched the area where the car was found with dogs but did not find anything of significance."
Lawson was reported missing by his wife, Paula, and his daughter, Whitney, on April 29. Paula Lawson told police she last saw her husband on the morning of April 28, when he left their Proctorville home to check on a rental property they own in nearby Ironton.
"We had made plans to go camping in Greenup, Ky., but he never came home," Paula Lawson told HuffPost. "Later that evening, I went to the campground to see if he was there but he wasn't."
PHOTOS OF JAMES "ALAN" LAWSON: (Article Continues Below)
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Alan Lawson also failed to meet up with the potential buyer of a car he was selling. The two had made plans to meet in the parking lot of a South Point, Ohio, grocery store, but Lawson never made it to the meeting, the buyer told Paula Lawson.
Lawson said it is extremely out of character for her husband of 13 years to be out of contact with her or his two children. She said he would always notify them if he was running late. She also said he had no reason to be in Huntington, W.Va. The town is located about 11 miles southwest of Proctorville and is on the south side of the Ohio River.
Lawless said investigators have been unable to ping the location of Alan Lawson's cellphone because the device has been turned off. There has also been no activity on his bank accounts. Authorities have subpoenaed Lawson's cellphone records to determine who was called on the day he disappeared. They are expecting those records on Tuesday.
"We have no indication of any foul play, but I have been [in law enforcement] for 26 years and the longer time goes by without any contact, we start to fear the worse," Lawless said. "Unfortunately those things seem to be the trend now."
Lawless added, "We're still interviewing family, friends and acquaintances. We're still piecing things together and looking for anyone who has any information that might help locate Mr. Lawson."
On Sunday, dozens of volunteer searchers reexamined the area where Lawson's vehicle was found. A trained search dog assisted the search teams but was unable to find Lawson. His family is planning additional searches and is in the process of putting together a reward for information in the case.
"We don't know what to do. It's so hard," Paula Lawson said. "We just keep praying that he comes home. All we have is our faith."
Lawson is 6 feet tall, 185 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes. He was last seen wearing a gray sweatshirt, blue jeans and grayish white tennis shoes. Anyone with information about Lawson is asked to contact the sheriff's office at 740-532-3106. Lawson's family has created two Facebook pages -- Help Bring James Alan Lawson Home and Find Alan Lawson -- and a website devoted to his disappearance.
An Ohio man's sudden disappearance has baffled family members and investigators, who found his vehicle abandoned in West Virginia five days after he went missing.
Police in Huntington, W.Va., said ...
An Ohio man's sudden disappearance has baffled family members and investigators, who found his vehicle abandoned in West Virginia five days after he went missing.
Police in Huntington, W.Va., said ...
Police have released CCTV images of Gemma McCluskie's last days in an appeal for fresh information about the former EastEnders star's death. McCluskie was last...
My heartaches for this family! I pray Allen is found safely and returned to his family very soon. Now to those of you who are at home detectives... If you don't know this family or have some real
information about the case stop making assumptions and allegations! This mans family is devistated right now and needs our love, support and prayers not a bunch of speculation due to one too many episodes of CSI.
missi_momo3: My heartaches for this family! I pray Allen is found
I hate so much to read some of these comments. This is my daughter's father that is missing. His wife is destroyed as are his children. Why are so many people so bored with their lives that they need to cruise through these news blogs and make snide comments for family to read. I truly appreciate the well wishers, but I wish so many others would stop going on about the worst. Everyone knows it could turn out badly so why announce it to his 2 kids??? He is one of the best fathers I have ever seen. Please have a small amount of common decency.
Julie_Riley_Kestner: I hate so much to read some of these comments.
I wonder. If he was legally abducted under the NDAA for suspicion of being a U.S. Citizen Enemy Combatant, would the military be under obligation to disclose this to civilian authorities?
This is what would happen if you were targeted under the act - you'd just "disappear". In fact, that's what the CIA calls it when they perform an "extraordinary rendition" - they call it "disappearing" the suspect.
Valid questions in Bush / Obama era of America.
The_Dude67: I wonder. If he was legally abducted under the NDAA
I'd bet, he met the person that was interested in buying his car, and that person wanted to take it for a test drive and drove to the ball field and met up with some other people and they killed this man...
Jenni_Downey_Fleming: I'd bet, he met the person that was interested in
I thought i had read they questioned the woman he was to meet about buying the car and she stated he never showed, i dont remember them saying he was showing rental property i do know they said he owns rental property, if he has empty rentals then maybe they should check to see if they are still empty.
rtladie: I thought i had read they questioned the woman he
I'm not on the computer often enough to find out if this guy will ever be found, just as I don't know if all the missing women I've read about over the past 6-8 months have been found, because I've never read anything about the ones I remember being found alive. I hope this man is found alive, but it doesn't sound good. If his body is found, my heartfelt thoughts and condolences go out to his family.
daksmom: I'm not on the computer often enough to find out
The rental house was in ironton which is further from where the car was found than either where he lived or where he was going to meet the buyer. If he met foul play that location (where the car was found) would be really out of the way. It would take about 30-35 min or so to drive from ironton to the baseball lot. There are many places much closer that would conceal a car. There are rural Roads and areas along the river too that would easily hide a car.
I wonder if he had a connection to that park? Seems strange to find the car there to me. There is an airport not too far from here too. I am sure they are checking cameras/ ticket purchases.
cichlid_mom: The rental house was in ironton which is further from
I think they should have the dog check for the scent of Adam Mayes and the 2 little girls missing from Tennessee/Mississippi after all Ohio is not far from there, and this man went missing like the day or 2 after them, reports say he has ties in VA, maybe it was his way of getting there without being noticed from the police ,change vehicles? hopefully not and this man as well as those 2 lil girls are found safe, but it is a possibility.
rtladie: I think they should have the dog check for the
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Posted: 05/08/2012 1:37 pm Updated: 05/08/2012 2:20 pm