Wednesday, January 10, 2001
special archived article
July 20, 1984
Lawmen believe Cox meant to
disappear
By Mark Doll
Reporter News Staff Writer
What happened to Wesley Barrett "Barre"
Cox?
Lawmen, family and friends aren't any closer
to answering that question than when they began investigating
the 31-year-old San Antonio youth minister's disappearance a week
ago.
"We're further away," says Texas
Ranger Sid Merchant. He said Jones County Sheriff Mike Middleton
said the same thing when he talked to him Thursday.
"It's a real strange situation,"
Merchant said.
Is Cox dead or alive? A week ago, he was
believed to be dead, but "my best intuition is he's alive,"
the Ranger said. Did Cox disappear on his own accord? "Yes,
he's hidden because he wants to be," he said.
Cox was last seen on State Highway 92 in
Rotan early in the morning July 12, apparently en route to Abilene
from Lubbock where he was working on his doctorate at Texas Tech
University.
Cox never made it to Abilene. His car was
found ransacked about 7:30 p.m. July 12, along Farm-to-Market
Road 1661 about 3 ½ miles north of Tuxedo.
A motorcycle that was being carried in the
trunk of Cox's car is also missing.
Lawmen believing Cox was a victim of foul
play began an intense search for the man in northern Jones County
last Friday.
The manhunt continued Saturday and Sunday
into nearby counties, with friends and relatives of Cox assisting
Merchant, Middleton and his four deputies.
The search failed to turn up Cox or the
motorcycle, but since then, there have been several reports that
the former Abilene Christian University staff member was seen
on a motorcycle in small towns to the north of Jones county.
As of Thursday night, Cox reportedly was
seen on a motorcycle in Electra, Vernon and Crowell toward the
end of the week.
One sighting was reported in Del Rio, but
Merchant said that it proved to be incorrect.
Merchant said he believes Cox did drive
north on the motorcycle because there's been "too many good
sightings" in that area.
The sightings, however, have not brought
lawmen any closer to finding Cox.
"We have no sightings since Sunday,"
when Cox was allegedly seen at an Allsup's convenience store in
Vernon, the Texas Ranger said.
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Copyright ©2001, Abilene
Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps. Publications
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