A new clue surfaced Monday in the case of a missing 91-year-old Kelso man whose car was found near Mount St. Helens, narrowing the time frame for his disappearance, according to the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office.
Wilford R. “Ray” Johnson was last seen the morning of June 29 by his neighbors. Johnson’s family told officials that Johnson and his car, a silver Honda, were missing. When he hadn’t returned home by the next morning, they reported he was gone.
Searchers found his vehicle on June 30 in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Skamania County east of Cougar, but detectives have learned that a group of young men had seen Johnson’s car there at about 6 p.m. the day before, according to a statement released Monday.
“This narrows the time frame from approximately 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on the 29th when Mr. Johnson was seen on his daily walk in the neighborhood to about 6 p.m. when the car was spotted up near Mount St. Helens, which is more than a two-hour drive from where Mr. Johnson lived,” the statement said.
The car was abandoned when the young men saw it, but they did not report it until they saw Facebook and media reports and made the connection to the case, the statement said.
A clerk at the Longview Dollar Store reported seeing someone who matched Johnson’s description in the store at about noon on June 29. On Monday, the sheriff’s office said detectives and members of Johnson’s family reviewed security video from the store but it wasn’t clear from the video if he’d been there. Johnson had frequented the store.
Johnson is 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighs 180 pounds and has blue eyes and balding white and gray hair.
He often wears a Navy Seabee hat, which Johnson is wearing in a photo the sheriff’s office shared.
The sheriff’s office said he’s considered fit for his age, but his family does not think he would have driven to where his car was found.
The Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office is sending letters to fast-food restaurants that Johnson would have typically visited asking them to preserve and send copies of any security video they have from June 29 in hopes Johnson may have visited one of these restaurants.
The sheriff’s office has asked those with information on Johnson’s whereabouts, or if they saw him at any point since the morning of June 29, to call 360-577-3092. Callers may reference case No. A17-2008.
Tipsters who’d rather be anonymous can send a text message to the sheriff’s office using the Tip411 smartphone app.
