Cisco man found in Shackelford County
By Melinda L. Lucas
A Cisco man who had been missing for three days was found dead in a remote part of northwestern Shackelford County on Monday evening, May 17, according to Shackelford County sheriff Ed Miller.
The body of Samuel Ray Woody, 79, was spotted by pilots of a DPS helicopter about 6:15 p.m. after law enforcement officers, fire department members, and volunteers had been searching the area for most of the day.
Miller received a call at approximately 9:00 a.m. Monday that an SUV matching the description of Woody’s vehicle had been sighted on a private ranch road about 24 miles northwest of Albany, almost to the Jones County line.
Ranch employees had reportedly seen the tan Mazda Tribute as early as Friday, the day Woody disappeared, but thought it belonged to hunters or someone else who had temporarily abandoned it after getting stuck in a low water crossing.
After Miller confirmed that the car belonged to the missing man, he called area agencies to join the search.
Woody was last seen leaving a Cisco business late Friday morning, and Cisco police department had posted a Facebook alert, describing his vehicle and stating that he “may show signs of dementia.”
Apparently the man left a county road and opened a gate to enter the ranch, Miller said, then left his vehicle after it got stuck. His body was found about three miles away.
“If a hail storm hadn’t stripped the leaves off the trees a few days before, it would have been even harder to find him,” said the sheriff.
About 20-25 officers and volunteers had been searching from the air, on horseback, and on ATVs, in addition to using Texas Parks & Wildlife canines.
Miller said there were “no obvious signs of foul play,” but an autopsy had been ordered, results from which were not available at press time.
The sheriff encouraged citizens to always call law enforcement if they see something out of the ordinary.
“It may turn out to be nothing, but call anyway, and we’ll follow up to see if there’s a problem that can be prevented,” Miller said.
