Kansas and Oklahoma authorities have called off a search for an elderly Winfield man last seen Friday until further information is available about where Jack Lee Howe might be located, Capt. Bill Mueller of the Cowley County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday morning.
The 87-year-old man lives alone on 81st road south of Winfield. He was last seen Friday by a neighbor. She didn’t see him Saturday and called the sheriff’s office on Sunday. His pickup was discovered Sunday east of U.S. 81 south of Caldwell in Grant County Okla., just south of the Kansas-Oklahoma border.
Searchers blanketed the area Sunday on foot, horseback, ATVs and airplane until they ran out of daylight, Mueller said. They were back out Monday with the help of both Kansas Highway Patrol and Wichita police helicopters, tracking and cadaver dogs.
"We’re pretty confident he’s not right there," Mueller said.
Howe’s 1999 dark blue Ford Ranger Pick-up with a light colored topper was found on the railroad right-of-way. Searchers had to wade through tall grasses and weeds with the heat index well into the 100s. An excessive heat warning is still in effect today.
Howe is not in poor physical health but couldn’t survive long in 105 degree weather unprotected. There have been some recent indications of short-term memory loss that would not be unexpected in a person Howe’s age, he said. A son, David, who lives out of state, is here now.
"There is always hope,’ Mueller said. For example, Howe could have walked back to the road by following his pickup’s tracks and been picked up by a trucker. He might have been left at a truck stop where he can get protection from the heat, he said.
Howe is 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighs 100 pounds. He has gray hair and brown eyes and frequently wears glasses. He was last seen wearing light-colored blue jeans, light-colored suspenders and a red long sleeve flannel type shirt.
