Special Archived Article -- July 20, 1984
Intense search for ex-ACU staffer
is fruitless
Friends give aid in various ways
By Kathy Sanders
Assistant Regional Editor
ANSON -- As news of Wesley Barret "Barre"
Cox's disappearance filtered through Abilene Friday and Saturday,
friends of the former Abilene Christian University staff member
banded together to help.
That help ranged from joining an intense
search in the fields, creeks and buildings near Tuxedo, Hamlin
and Rotan to feeding those participating in the search.
All expressed shock and disbelief at the
events surrounding the 31-year-old's disappearance and speculated
on what could have befallen the well-liked man.
"You couldn't help but love him. Even
if you tried not to, you'd end up loving him," said Kay Agnew,
one of Cox's friends of Abilene. Her husband, Ronnie, was helping
with the search.
The Agnews, as well as a large majority
of the volunteers, are members of Southern Hills Church of Christ,
3666 Buffalo Gap Road. Cox and his wife, Beth, attended the church
when they lived in Abilene.
They moved from Abilene in the fall of 1983
to San Antonio where he was serving as youth minister for the
MacArthur Park Church of Christ. They have a 7-month-old daughter.
Cox joined the ACU staf in 1981 as an adviser
for the school's Camp Kadesh. He was added to the full-time staff
in the fall of 1982 as an admissions counselor and director of
semester activities.
As the women who brought the food awaited
the arrival of the search teams, they tried to piece together
what had happened to Cox. Most agreed the situation looked bleak.
One woman said Cox was the type of man to
help a seemingly troubled motorist or hitchhiker, especially since
he had just been helped out of a similar situation.
Also among the searchers were four elders
of Cox's San Antonio church, ACU professors, a Lubbock Christian
College professor and some Jones County residents.
Cox's brother, George, assisted in the search
effort and praised everyone for their assistance.
"Barre meant so much to you all,"
he said. "The game warden, district attorney, sheriff and
his deputies ... started yesterday and worked 16-17 hours. They've
done a real good job."
Cox's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Wesley Barrett
Cox Sr., and his wife Beth, who arrived Saturday afternoon, kept
vigil at the sheriff's office, waiting for any information.
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Copyright ©2001, Abilene
Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps. Publications
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