A half-dozen deputies from the Statesboro Sheriff’s Office tripped their way through the thick brush that moonless night, searching and calling out the trooper’s name. The chirping cicadas were the only sounds they heard other than their own cursing.
Deputy Alan Carson grumbled. “I can’t see shit out here even with the flashlight, and there’s no room to move around. I keep falling over vines and downed branches.”
“Same here,” another deputy said.
They gathered back at the abandoned vehicle and looked through it for a second time. The keys, interior cameras, and radio were missing. Carson shined his flashlight at every location where exterior cameras were normally mounted. They were gone too.
“What the hell? Either he didn’t want anyone to see what he was up to, or whoever brought his car back here didn’t want the cameras to catch their actions.” The deputy cupped his mouth and yelled out again but got nothing. “Let’s head back to town and find out what we can from the state patrol about the trooper’s route today, what channel he used to call in traffic stops, and what the last vehicle was that he pulled over. Maybe by listening to the radio transmissions he made, we’ll get something. We’ve got to run everything by the captain, though, and he’ll know what the next move should be.”
The deputies returned to the sheriff’s office and reported their findings to Captain Max Herman. The state patrol was immediately informed about what was and wasn’t found at the scene. The trooper’s vehicle had been located at the end of a gravel road. The deputies searched for the trooper, but after numerous attempts to locate him in the dark, brush-filled woods, they were unsuccessful. Every camera that could have recorded what happened in the secluded spot had been stripped off the vehicle, and the radio was gone too.
They were told that the state police would be on site first thing in the morning. During the night, they would listen to the trooper’s recorded traffic stops to see if they could garner any information from them. The scene was to be manned by deputies throughout the night, and at first light, the state police would meet with them there.
Since the trooper’s wife had already been notified and had given her statement, more information, including his name and photograph, would air every hour on every news station throughout Georgia. The news would also be forwarded to every police department in the state. Somebody had to know what had happened and where the trooper disappeared to, and according to the state police, foul play couldn’t be ruled out.