Reporter-News Archives Special Archived Article -- July 15, 1984 Sheriff says he suspects foul play By Kathy Sanders Assistant Regional Editor TUXEDO -- Friends, relatives and law enforcement officers unsuccessfully scoured miles of country side Saturday while searching for a San Antonio youth minister missing since early Thursday morning. About 100 people joined in the intense search for 31-year-old Wesley Barrett "Barre" Cox whose abandoned, ransacked car was discovered 3-1/2 miles north of Tuxedo on Farm-to-Market Road 1661 about 7:30 p.m. Thursday. The search ended about 8 p.m. Saturday without additional leads and is scheduled to resume at 8 a.m. Sunday. Jones County Sheriff Mike Middleton said volunteers covered a stretch of land Saturday from Rotan to Stamford and from the Hanna Church to Sagerton. Middleton said he suspects "foul play" in the disappearance of Cox, a former Abilene Christian University staff member. "I'll think that (foul play) until I find out different," Middleton said. "All the things that we have point in that direction." When asked if authorities were working under the assumption that Cox is dead, the sheriff replied, "We're not making that presumption at this time." Officials can't operate under that assumption without more evidence, he said. Cox was en route to his home in San Antonio when he disappeared, having left Lubbock where he was working on doctoral studies at Texas Tech University. He was to stay the night with friends in Abilene Wednesday and continue to San Antonio the next day. Cox was last seen by Rotan Police Officer Floyd Bankston at 3:45 a.m. Thursday after Cox ran of out gas and Bankston assisted him. Officials said Bankston followed Cox for a couple of miles and last saw the missing man on State Highway 92 going east toward Hamlin. Law enforcement officials mounted a search for Cox all day Friday, and family members assisted investigators in compiling information about Cox and his movements. The search was suspended at 8 p.m. Friday and resumed at 8 a.m. Saturday with many of Cox's Abilene firends combin culverts, diteches, wooded areas and abandoned buildings. Cox's brother, George, father Wesley Barrett Cox, Sr. of Amarillo and Middleton, explained the search procedure and what few leads officials had to the volunteers at the Jones County Jail in Anson. Officials had narrowed the manhunt area because of the amount of gas left in the car, the missing man's brother said. The car's tank was drained Friday to determine how many miles the car had been driven between Rotan and where it was found. Besides numerous friends of Cox, authorities were aided in their search by a crop duster airplane piloted by Ed Hargrove and a Civil Air Patrol plane. The areas combed Saturday included 100-200 feet on either side of FM 1661, north and south of where the car was found, and land on either side of State Highway 92 between Stamford and Rotan. "We don't think Barre was up here where the car was found," his brother said. "If you find something, don't run up and mess with it. Back off and go to the nearest farmhouse and call or come back here." One volunteer recommended that people search the tall grass and fields of maize carefully, because, "If Barre's down laying flat on the ground, it'll be hard to see him." Officials were also searching for a blue moped motorbike and a blue helmet that Cox had. Cox was believed to have been carrying the moped inside his trunk, but it was missing when officers arrived at the scene. The car's front and back windshield had holes knocked in them, and a driver's side landau window was bashed in. The keys to the car and a beer can were found locked in the trunk, Middleton said. He said the beer can was "being processed" with other evidence and added that, after investigating Cox's background, "We found that he's (Cox) definitely not a drinker." The sheriff said the car had been ransacked and items were "out of where they should have been." He said contents from a briefcase were scattered in the car as if someone had rifled through it. Contents of Cox's wallet were found strewn along a broow ditch south of the FM 1661 and FM 1636 intersection, about 1/2-1 mile south of where the car, facing north, was found. Middleton said about $100 was missing from the wallet. The search Sunday will be primarily and air search with assistance from the Civil Air Patrol, the sheriff said. Middleton added that the air search would allow him to cover more area in less time, since most of the remaining area is plowed fields. Cox is 6 feet, 1 inch tall, weighs 205 pounds, has black hair and blue eyes and was wearing a white T-shirt, blue jeans and Earth shoes when last seen. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story Start or Join A Discussion about This Story Send the URL (Address) of This Story to A Friend: Enter their email address below: texnews reporternews local news features Copyright ©2001, Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps. Publications