CTUIR authorities say search for missing elder will spread to new areas

Law enforcement on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation is expanding the search area for 71-year-old Wesley Dixon Jones, a tribal elder who was last seen Oct. 5.

The location of the new search area was not identified in a Nov. 14 CTUIR news release, but UTPD detective William Morris said they’ll initiate the search with drones and that the CTUIR Geographic Information Systems is supporting the effort.

The FBI has recently updated its information on Jones to align its last known sighting of Jones with that of the CTUIR’s. The tribe has said Jones was last seen Oct. 5 at 3:15 p.m. riding as a passenger in a gray 2003 Ford Escape headed east on Short Mile Road in the Mission area. When the driver drove back on the same stretch, Jones was no longer seen in the vehicle.

Jones is 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighs 140 lbs. He has brown eyes and long black hair and was last seen wearing a black and red Tiger Scott jacket, black shirt, black sweatpants and boots. A relative said he had a Shakespeare fishing rod with him.

Morris said he’s been in constant contact with Jones’s daughters, Mollyanne and Twila, as they coordinate search efforts.

“This is a difficult time for his daughters right now, but despite that there has been a good amount of mutual support between us and the family,” Morris was quoted as saying. “It’s important to me to maintain good relationships with the family.”