Search Continues For Elderly Hunter Missing Since Christmas Eve
http://www.wftv.com/news/5715986/detail.htmlOCALA NATIONAL FOREST, Fla. -- Dozens of people spent Thursday searching for a missing Marion County hunter last seen Christmas Eve. The search teams included a sheriff's helicopter and search dogs in the southeast corner of the county in the Ocala National Forest.
Dozens of trees in the area are now sporting posters of a man known to his friends as Little Mac.
For 50 years, John Moody has spent much of his time around Lake Catherine in the Ocala National Forest. It was about 50 years ago when he first met Oscar McElmurray.
"Yeah, we hunted together and fished together," Moody said.
But he never called him Oscar. His nickname is Little Mac because he weighed just 95 pounds. But now, Mac is missing.
An ATV is the best way for Marion County sheriff's deputies to search and they're trying to cover well over 100 square miles.
Captain G.D. Combs said McElmurray disappeared in the woods on Christmas Eve. His family said he's not the type to leave without a word.
"They say he's very dependable. He never goes anywhere without letting his daughter know where he's gonna be. Never leaves his dog home alone," Captain Combs said.
The searchers include volunteers with the Ocala Jeep team. They said it is a tough area and the man they're trying to find is 76 years old.
Investigators said McElmurray was last seen behind the wheel of his old Jeep pickup, heading toward a campground right on the lake. Deputies said he was dropping off a drifter who lived in a tent. That drifter is now in the Marion County jail.
Samuel Lee Snyder, 45, was arrested for possession of marijuana. Authorities have not named him as a suspect in McElmurray's disappearance, but the man and his truck seem to be long gone.
"Being in police work for 33 years, you don't want to think the worst, but you've got to treat it like a homicide until we can prove otherwise," Captain Combs said.
Mac's old friend John Moody is convinced he would never leave town without telling everybody.
"No, he didn't disappear on his own. I never will believe that. Been knowing Mac too long for him to do something stupid like that," Moody said.
There are no plans to call off the search, but Friday it enters its sixth day
