Authorities: Search for missing man to continue into Tuesday
OBION COUNTY, Tenn. – Authorities shared an update on a missing man in Obion County.
Almost three weeks ago, Charles Baldridge, 62, was last seen heading south on Highway 51 in his navy blue 2003 Chevrolet Silverado.
The next day, — Tuesday, January 9 — his phone was pinged by authorities to show his last known location near Union City.
Friday, January 26 evening, authorities confirmed Baldridge’s Silverado was found alongside Highway 51 near Union City partially submerged in a drainage ditch.
“The floodwaters essentially flushed the vehicle out where it was visible and essentially Friday all they did was recover the vehicle,” Chief Deputy Matt Woods, with the Obion County Sheriff’s Office.
When the vehicle was found, authorities could not locate anyone inside. So the next morning, the search to find Baldridge was on.
“We arrived on scene around 8:00 out here and began searching the creek and searched from 51 to Old Reeves Road, where the ditch crosses there,” Woods said.
Lt. Joe Key, with the Obion County Sheriff’s Office, has spearheaded the search efforts to learn more details about their plan moving forward.
“When I arrived on scene this morning, we took a look at the original crash site, noticed that the water had receded quite a bit, so we decided to start from that location and set a team there. That team would progress forward midway. We had another team set that would work their way back to Team One. Then we had another team that started on 45W and worked their way back to Reeves Road,” Key said.
The search included boats provided by the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency, four-wheelers, and cadaver dogs.
While investigators haven’t located Baldridge yet, the sheriff’s department did find several clues.
“I think we were able to locate a hat that the highway department guys identified as being the hat he would wear. We also recovered a jacket. Not 100% sure, but they did say it was a jacket similar to what he would wear,” Key said.
Tuesday, the search will continue.
Search and rescue teams from the Jackson Police Department, the TWRA, the Obion County Sheriff’s Office, and the Obion County Search and Rescue Team will return.
And joining them for the first time will be the Madison County Fire Department.
Authorities say they are hoping with the upcoming improvement in weather conditions, the water levels in the ditch will recede to further aid their search.
Officials with the Obion County Sheriff’s Office say that this is no longer considered a rescue and is now a recovery mission.
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