Since Feb. 19, first responders and others have spent several days searching in Jefferson County for Delbert Kinsey, 56, of Lonedell, who has been missing since then.
So far he has not been found, but Kinsey’s family members have not given up hope he will be found, and they will not stop searching for him and evidence about what happened to him, said his sister-in-law, Donna Roosevelt.
Kinsey works at the silica plant in Crystal City, and his wife, Marylou, told authorities she last saw him the morning of Feb. 19 at their home before he left for work, said Grant Bissell, spokesman for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
He said Kinsey’s wife told first responders her husband got up around 5 a.m. and left the house for work, and at about 7 a.m. his employer called her asking where he was. Kinsey’s wife said she tried calling her husband and got no answer, and then she drove the route he normally traveled to work and found his truck near the bridge over the Big River on Hwy. B near Hwy. C in Morse Mill.
That area is where the search for Kinsey has been focused.
Jefferson County emergency responders, including Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and Cedar Hill Fire Protection District personnel, spent time Feb. 19-21 searching near the bridge. Boats, a drone and the Sheriff’s Office bloodhound were used in the search, authorities reported.
Roosevelt said Kinsey’s family hired a private drone service to search the area on Feb. 27. She also said Highway Patrol personnel joined the search on Feb. 28 when sonar was used to try to find Kinsey.
Fischer and Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak said no personnel from their agencies were involved in last weekend’s search.
The family believes Kinsey may have dropped his phone while looking at the river and fell in trying to get it, Roosevelt said.
She said it’s also possible Kinsey was the victim of foul play.
“We honestly don’t know,” she said. “We are looking for proof that he is in the river.”
Roosevelt said Kinsey was applying for early retirement so he could travel with his wife and spend more time outdoors.
“When he was not working and had a chance to hunt and fish he was out there doing that,” she said.
Roosevelt said her sister, Marylou, and Delbert and Marylou have been married for almost 30 years.
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