WOOD RIVER, Ill. — The Metro East Police Department is asking for your help to find a missing man.
When the tugboat “Kevin Michael” docked in Wood River on July 21st, 2022, Vernon Law went ashore and headed to a nearby boat store.
“He walked off that tow boat around 3 o’clock that afternoon,” Brad Wells, Wood River police chief, said. “That’s the last time we have a signal on his phone.”
On the same day, Wells said traffic cameras picked up Law walking south along Route 3 towards I-270 where he seemingly vanished.
“After that we’ve not gotten anymore camera or video or any reports of anybody that’s had any contact with him,” Wells said.
As a deckhand on the river, it’s not unusual for Law to go silent while working, but his colleagues reported that he left his belongings behind on the boat.
“You have to think if it was one of your family members what you would go through mentally just to figure out what happened to them,” Wells said.
Wells said his investigators have spent time following up on tips in Madison County as well as both sides of the river.
“We’ve exhausted a lot of search time trying to find him and he’s still missing,” Wells said.
In the past Law has been known to spend time in Chester, Columbia, Illinois, and O’Fallon.
If you’ve seen Vernon Law you’re being asked to call Wood River Police and pass along his whereabouts.
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