Jack Lee Howe, former resident of Medford Oklahoma, is missing. Below are comments provided by his loving family...along with links to other news articles providing background information.Jack Lee Howe, former resident of Medford Oklahoma, is missing. Below are comments provided by his loving family...along with links to other news articles providing background information.
Grandpa loves his independence and lives alone. As a family, we have tried to do what we can to help him remain independent despite his age and physical limitations. We have tried to set up a system of watch care that he will accept as not too intrusive and still help to insure his safety. His good neighbor, Lela Bright is what we all consider his tireless guardian angel. She checks in on him with extreme frequency, brings him his mail, drops off groceries, etc. Last Friday, around noon, she dropped off some groceries at his house. She left the groceries and went on her way, knowing he would pay her for the groceries later.
Saturday evening around 5:30, she grabbed his mail out of the mailbox with the intent of taking it up to the house for him, but noticed that his truck was not there. She remembered that he had mentioned something about driving to Ark City to pick up something, a metal bucket, I think, so she assumed he was out running that errand. She put his mail back in the box, knowing he would grab it out of the box as he pulled back into his driveway. The next time she stopped by to check on him was Sunday around noon, at which time she noticed that his truck was still not home and the same mail was still in the box, indicating that he had not been home all night. She immediately called my mother and father, Mike and Donna Isbell (Jack's daughter and son-in-law) in Wisconsin (920-855-1705 home number; 920-644-2705 cell number) to tell them of her concern for Grandpa. My dad (Mike) immediately got the sheriff's office involved. After searching the house, they found no signs of foul play in the house or anywhere on the property. His checkbook, wallet, and walking cane seemed to be the only things he took with him. A check for the groceries was written out to Lela and left lying on the kitchen table, presumable to be given to her the next time she stopped by. One of his dogs was in a pin behind the house and the other dog was in a kennel inside the house. All signs indicate that he left the house with the intention of only being gone a short time.
Shortly after Grandpa was reported missing to the Cowley County Sheriff's department, an APB for him and his vehicle was put out over a wide area. It was sent out to multiple states in the off chance that he had decided to drive up to visit his son (Eddie Lee Howe) in Minnesota or his wife and daughter in Wisconsin. His wife, Cindy Howe, is no longer physically strong enough to live at home and resides in a care home near where my parents live (Mike and Donna) in Wisconsin. After a few hours, an APB turned up the fact that his truck had been found just south of the Kansas/Oklahoma border on Highway 81. The description of the vehicle, tag number, etc can be found in the articles linked above.
The abandoned truck was spotted by a passing train on Saturday morning and reported to the Oklahoma authorities (Highway Patrol, I presume). A train had been by there at around 9 pm on Friday night, but did not report the truck. We don't know if the 9pm Friday train didn't see the truck or if the truck wound up there sometime after that train had already passed. We were told that officers came out and investigated the scene assuming that the truck had been abandoned by a drunk driver, so the scene was investigated to gather evidence, then the truck was sent to the impound in Tonkaya, OK. We have heard foggy reports that there was some sort of confusion about the tag number on the truck, which slowed down the process of identifying Grandpa as the owner, but so far we as a family haven't been able to gain a clear understanding of what that confusion was about. Once the APB went out, the Oklahoma authorities realized that the impounded truck belonged to our missing Jack Lee Howe, and we finally had a place to start concentrating the search.
The car had gone off of the east side of the road at a right angle to the highway. He went through the tall grass in the ditch, over a berm, and onto the edge of the railroad right-of-way. There were no skid or acceleration marks noted anywhere. After conversation with several officials, it is inconclusive if he was traveling north or south or if he had headed straight across the highway from a driveway. At that point the truck would no longer have been visible to a passing car on the highway. A detective on the scene today indicated that he believes the most likely direction for a man on foot to go after leaving the truck would have been right back to the road by the same path that the truck had just ploughed through the tall grass. Foot travel along the tracks looks to have been difficult enough that is unlikely he would have attempted it and the grass all around in other directions would have been difficult to walk through as well. The paint on the truck was scratched from being driven through the weeds and brush, but showed no other signs of damage. There was no broken glass or blood to indicate that he suffered any injury when he went off the road.
Aircraft began searching the area for him yesterday and continued until dark. Today's search began at 6 am (Monday, Aug 4) and included an extremely detailed search for a 100 yard radius around the car, a shoulder to shoulder grid search for a one mile radius from the car, and an additional search by air, horse, and ATV up to a 5 mile radius out from the car. The ground search turned up absolutely no sign of him and was called off around 2 pm this afternoon.
His son (David Howe, a resident of St.Louis, MO) arrived in Winfield today and is staying at Grandpa's house while the search continues. Given the limited information we have, there are so many possible scenarios, that it kind of boggles the mind. At this point some investigators are assuming that he took a wrong turn and wound up lost and on the wrong highway. Once he saw the "Welcome to Oklahoma" sign, he realized his mistake and may have been attempting to turn around and head back north when he went off the road.
We are hoping that someone picked up Grandpa and may be transporting him somewhere without knowing about the extensive search that is going on.
Thanks again for all of your efforts on behalf of my grandfather.
Luann Hawker