Published: November 12, 2009 05:42 pm      

Police still searching for missing man

Somerset — No new information is available in the search for a Science Hill man who disappeared earlier this week — but investigators are using all avenues available to turn up any evidence of the 21-year-old.

“We have interviewed several acquaintances trying to pinpoint who the last person was who saw or spoke to him,” said Lt. Brett Whitaker with the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department, who is involved with the investigation, in an e-mail to the Commonwealth Journal. “We have been conducting interviews with co-workers and supervisors at his work.”

Jeffrey K. Price II left his workplace at Eagle Hardwood after his shift ended at 3:30 p.m. on Monday. After not returning home that evening, Price’s concerned family members contacted the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department to report his absence. None of his family has heard from him or seen him after he left work at the above time.

Price reportedly lived at 6955 North U.S. 27 in Science Hill.

That evening, the situation grew more disturbing. Sheriff’s units and the Science Hill Fire Department responded to a report of a vehicle fire at 8:40 p.m. Monday, located at West Racetrack Road near the former Outdoorsman Club just north of Somerset.

The vehicle on fire was a 2001 Dodge Dakota pick-up truck, and it was later discovered that it belonged to Price.

“Today, we have been working with the Somerset Fire Investigation Team in examining the burned vehicle,” Whitaker said on Thursday in the e-mail.

A search of the area by the sheriff’s department and the Pulaski County Rescue Squad turned up no sign of Price, and on Wednesday search divers with the Pulaski County Rescue Squad combed a pond located near the area where Price’s vehicle was found — but no evidence of Price’s whereabouts were discovered.

Whitaker also said search dogs have been dispatched to comb any areas where Price may have gone.

“There are other areas we are working leads but disclosing that info could jeopardize the investigation,” Whitaker’s e-mail said.

At this time, Price is listed as a missing person, but the circumstances surrounding his disappearance and the fact that his vehicle has been found burned is cause for concern, stated the sheriff’s department. Anyone with information about Price’s location or of anyone he may have had contact with after leaving work on Monday is asked to contact the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department at (606) 678-5145.

Price is described as a white male, standing 5-foot-9 and weighing 150 pounds. He has blonde hair and hazel eyes. He was last seen wearing blue jeans, a “Tri-City” shirt with a gray thermal undershirt, and brown boots.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing by the Sheriff’s Department Criminal Investigation Division.