$5,000 REWARD for Information Leading to the Whereabout of Charles Childree

Matt Boster

Viewed: 4566

Posted by: Matt Boster
Date: Jul 23 2020 10:28 AM

COLD CASE CHARLES CHILDREE MISSING 5 YEARS – The Dale County Sheriff’s Department and the family are asking for help in locating the whereabouts of Charles Childree, 66 years old at the time, white male, residing in Ozark, Alabama near the Arguta community on County Road 15, just North of Randal Faust Road. 

Mr. Childree was reported missing 8:00 pm Wednesday, July 22, 2015.  He was last seen by family next door around 1:00 pm Tuesday, July 21, 2015 as he returned home from a routine walk.  His common walking route south from his home on CR 15 would be to Randal Faust Rd, Laura Richardson Loop, Lynn Free Road to CR 13 Kirby Richardson Road, possibly making a loop North on CR 13 to the old Arguta schoolhouse on Hwy 15. 

Charles was last seen wearing his typical blue jeans, belt, short sleeve summer button up plaid shirt, orange baseball cap, and black work shoes.    He wore either black or white socks, boxers or briefs, and medium scoop neck white t-shirt.  All clothing items would be a brand from Walmart. Charles did not carry a wallet or cell phone or water bottle, and may or may not have been wearing his wire rim glasses.  He was likely carrying a 5 feet walking stick/limb and may have been carrying a Walmart bag for collecting cans. 

If you have any information, please contact the Dale County Sheriff’s Department, Investigations Division at 334-774-2335

Charles Childree’s Disappearance 5 Years Later – Maybe You Can Help

By Rhoda Childree Hall, niece

 

This July 21^st marks 5 years since my uncle, Charles Childree, was last seen by family at his home in the Aruguta community of Dale County, Alabama.  Although the case has gone cold, Charles is not forgotten by his family, his community, and sheriff’s detectives, all hoping that one day his fate will be known.

Born prematurely in 1948, the 8^th child of RA and Alice Childree, Charles barely weighed 2 pounds.  With love and prayer, Charles beat the odds and lived. 

 In spite of Charles’s mental disability, he was not deterred from enjoying life.  Charles loved bicycles, a love which began early when he collected enough potato chip bags to be awarded a new bike at the WTVY studio in Dothan. As an adult, he kept many bicycles, swapping out parts, rebuilding so that he would always be able to ride. Prior to 2006, he would ride from Arguta to Ozark, to Blue Springs, Ariton, and Skipperville, stopping along the way to talk and have a drink of water. 

Charles was a humble man, friendly to all, listening intently to everything.  Make no mistake, Charles was intelligent in his own way, interested in things going on around him and living independently for 24 years prior to his disappearance.

Around 2006, when his health and safety became more of an issue, he had to park his bike for good.  Again, not deterred, Charles walked the community, most always carrying a walking stick, stopping to talk to whomever he saw along the way, often collecting soda cans in a Walmart bag for recycling.

In the early afternoon of Tuesday, July 21, 2015, at the age of 66, after one such walk, Charles made his way up the dirt driveway to his home, throwing up his hand at his brother and sister-in-law next door.  He has not been seen again. 

The likely window of his disappearance seems to be from 1:00 pm Tuesday, July 21 to mid-afternoon Wednesday, July 22.  Given the temperature of 95 on Tuesday and Charles’s typical behavior, it is unlikely that he would go out for a second walk that day, but we don’t know that.  Maybe someone does?

If he was home Tuesday night, was he still there when the sun came up?  Those that knew his behaviors best will tell you that he did not like the dark, so if he was still home Tuesday night, but was not there when the sun came up, did someone come to him with ill-intent?  There are clues that suggest this is a possibility.  Maybe someone knows?

 

 If Charles was home when the sun came up on Wednesday, did he go out for a walk that morning like he did the day before?  If he did, maybe someone saw him? 

 

Here’s where you can help.  A new reward of $5,000 is being offered by the family for information leading to Charles’s whereabouts. No detail is too small – it could be just the missing piece, especially if you saw him early Wednesday morning.  The map below shows Charles’s typical walking routes around the time of his disappearance.  Please search your memory and your heart and help bring Charles home.   If you have any information, please contact the Dale County Sheriff’s Department, Investigations Division at 334-774-2335.

 

 

 

 

 

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