Found Deceased SC - Kelly Hook, 61, I-95 Southbound Welcome Center, found in back seat and appeared to be sleeping when he passed.

[Vern_S]

On January 15th, the Flagler County Florida Sherriff's Office released the following on their FB page.

Have you seen this person?
Kelly Hook was supposed to be in transit to Palm Coast from Richmond, Virginia and arrive on Saturday, January 13th, but never arrived. He is operating a 2011 maroon Ford F250.
DESCRIPTION
• Age: 61
• Race: White
• Sex: Male
• Height: 5’9”
• Weight : 150 lbs
• Hair: Bald
• Eyes: Brown
If you see Kelly or know his location, please contact the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office at 386-313-4911.

Here is a photo of Mr. Hook, and his VA Tag # is UKL-1481



According to Mr. Hook's son, who I contacted on Jan 18th through FB, his father called on Thursday, Jan 11th, and said he was driving down and would arrive on Saturday, Jan 13th, to visit. He never arrived and was reported missing. The FBSO informed him that Hook's cell phone was checked and was currently pinging from a cell tower in Dillon County South Carolina in which I-95 passes through as it enters SC from NC. They informed Law Enforcement in Dillon County and a patrol car was dispatched to search a location. The search came back negative.

I was heading to Florida from my home in central NC on Friday the 19th and decided to go to Dillon County immediately and perform an aerial and aquatic search down I-95 checking woods and next to/under bridges. I decided to enter Dillon County at the NC/SC border and pull into the welcome center and begin flying drones from there. I pulled into the welcome center and headed to the truck a trailer parking since I pull a 6X12 Cargo Trailer that is my custom mobile command center and boondock RV. As I scanned the car parking I noticed a truck that matched the photo FBSO provided. After parking, I walked over and confirmed the truck was indeed Hook's and he appeared to be sleeping in the back seat. The truck was less then 100ft from the entrance to the Main Building.



After getting no response knocking on windows, I called 911 and a Dillon County Sheriff Deputy showed up about 10 minutes later. After breaking the driver side window and unlocking the doors, the deputy confirmed that Hook had been deceased for quite some time. The Dillon County Coroner arrived and the assessment was that Hook had passed away from a natural cause while sleeping.

Below is FCSO update. I am Helo & Sub. My search Partner is Recon Dive Recovery and was the one that informed me of the missing person and helped coordinate the search effort I "was' planning to do.



There are many questions I have about this case I am trying to get answers to.

1.) Who did FBSO contact to search the Ping Location? Dillon City PD or Dillon County SO who says they were not informed.
2.) Regardless of who was contacted in Dillon County, would it still had made sense to check the Welcome Center? That's the first place I went.
3.) How does a deceased individual clearly visible in his truck not be noticed or checked for almost a week in front of the main building? (Head was visible in the rear driver side window and illuminated by a street light above at night and both stocking feet were up against the window on the rear passenger side)

I am still working on getting answers but so far my voice mails are not getting a return call. There is some glaring communications issues and lack of effort here.

I will post updates here as I get them.

 

[Vern]

On January 15th, the Flagler County Florida Sherriff's Office released the following on their FB page.

Have you seen this person?
Kelly Hook was supposed to be in transit to Palm Coast from Richmond, Virginia and arrive on Saturday, January 13th, but never arrived. He is operating a 2011 maroon Ford F250.
DESCRIPTION
• Age: 61
• Race: White
• Sex: Male
• Height: 5’9”
• Weight : 150 lbs
• Hair: Bald
• Eyes: Brown
If you see Kelly or know his location, please contact the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office at 386-313-4911.

Here is a photo of Mr. Hook, and his VA Tag # is UKL-1481

View attachment 479667

According to Mr. Hook's son, who I contacted on Jan 18th through FB, his father called on Thursday, Jan 11th, and said he was driving down and would arrive on Saturday, Jan 13th, to visit. He never arrived and was reported missing. The FBSO informed him that Hook's cell phone was checked and was currently pinging from a cell tower in Dillon County South Carolina in which I-95 passes through as it enters SC from NC. They informed Law Enforcement in Dillon County and a patrol car was dispatched to search a location. The search came back negative.

I was heading to Florida from my home in central NC on Friday the 19th and decided to go to Dillon County immediately and perform an aerial and aquatic search down I-95 checking woods and next to/under bridges. I decided to enter Dillon County at the NC/SC border and pull into the welcome center and begin flying drones from there. I pulled into the welcome center and headed to the truck a trailer parking since I pull a 6X12 Cargo Trailer that is my custom mobile command center and boondock RV. As I scanned the car parking I noticed a truck that matched the photo FBSO provided. After parking, I walked over and confirmed the truck was indeed Hook's and he appeared to be sleeping in the back seat. The truck was less then 100ft from the entrance to the Main Building.

View attachment 479676 View attachment 479677

After getting no response knocking on windows, I called 911 and a Dillon County Sheriff Deputy showed up about 10 minutes later. After breaking the driver side window and unlocking the doors, the deputy confirmed that Hook had been deceased for quite some time. The Dillon County Coroner arrived and the assessment was that Hook had passed away from a natural cause while sleeping.

Below is FCSO update. I am Helo & Sub. My search Partner is Recon Dive Recovery and was the one that informed me of the missing person and helped coordinate the search effort I "was' planning to do.

View attachment 479686

There are many questions I have about this case I am trying to get answers to.

1.) Who did FBSO contact to search the Ping Location? Dillon City PD or Dillon County SO who says they were not informed.
2.) Regardless of who was contacted in Dillon County, would it still had made sense to check the Welcome Center? That's the first place I went.
3.) How does a deceased individual clearly visible in his truck not be noticed or checked for almost a week in front of the main building? (Head was visible in the rear driver side window and illuminated by a street light above at night and both stocking feet were up against the window on the rear passenger side)

I am still working on getting answers but so far my voice mails are not getting a return call. There is some glaring communications issues and lack of effort here.

I will post updates here as I get them.

Welcome @Vern_S !!

Have you considered becomming a "verified" member of the forums? I checked out your website, having met a couple of other "Vern's" during my career. You have official, professional skills & qualifications quite applicable to searchs and to aerial which are quite unique. I think your expertize would certainly be value added to missing persons discussions in the very least.

Here's a link to the thread on becoming a verified member.

Verification Process for Professional or Insider Posters

*PLEASE NOTE THE NEW EMAIL ADDRESS FOR VERIFICATION IS WSVERIFY@YAHOO.COM* If you would like to add yourself as an expert in a certain field or as an insider to a case, please send an email to wsverify@yahoo.com Please note this is a new email address. If you do not wish to be identified as...

www.websleuths.com

From one vet to another - thank you for your service and welcome to Websleuths!

Vern

 

[Vern_S]

Hello @Vern

My apologies for the delay in getting back to you. My yearly battle with the Chinese gift that keeps on giving has been tough this year. (ie: COVID)

Thank you for the information on becoming a "Verified" member of the forums. I will certainly submit a request to become "verified". My credentials and experience is extensive and I continue to grow professionally even though I'll be 60 next week. In March I am attending a Man Tracking course in NC followed by an Aquatic Incident Response course.

Thank you for your service as well. The closest I got to New Brunswick was Halifax Nova Scotia back in the late 1980's. One of the best port of calls I ever had!

I'm currently in Florida working on several cases in Northeast and Central Florida. It's a bit warmer here then at my home in NC and certainly warmer then New Brunswick!

Keep warm and stay safe!

Vern

 

[bombardier]

On January 15th, the Flagler County Florida Sherriff's Office released the following on their FB page.

Have you seen this person?
Kelly Hook was supposed to be in transit to Palm Coast from Richmond, Virginia and arrive on Saturday, January 13th, but never arrived. He is operating a 2011 maroon Ford F250.
DESCRIPTION
• Age: 61
• Race: White
• Sex: Male
• Height: 5’9”
• Weight : 150 lbs
• Hair: Bald
• Eyes: Brown
If you see Kelly or know his location, please contact the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office at 386-313-4911.

Here is a photo of Mr. Hook, and his VA Tag # is UKL-1481

View attachment 479667

According to Mr. Hook's son, who I contacted on Jan 18th through FB, his father called on Thursday, Jan 11th, and said he was driving down and would arrive on Saturday, Jan 13th, to visit. He never arrived and was reported missing. The FBSO informed him that Hook's cell phone was checked and was currently pinging from a cell tower in Dillon County South Carolina in which I-95 passes through as it enters SC from NC. They informed Law Enforcement in Dillon County and a patrol car was dispatched to search a location. The search came back negative.

I was heading to Florida from my home in central NC on Friday the 19th and decided to go to Dillon County immediately and perform an aerial and aquatic search down I-95 checking woods and next to/under bridges. I decided to enter Dillon County at the NC/SC border and pull into the welcome center and begin flying drones from there. I pulled into the welcome center and headed to the truck a trailer parking since I pull a 6X12 Cargo Trailer that is my custom mobile command center and boondock RV. As I scanned the car parking I noticed a truck that matched the photo FBSO provided. After parking, I walked over and confirmed the truck was indeed Hook's and he appeared to be sleeping in the back seat. The truck was less then 100ft from the entrance to the Main Building.

View attachment 479676 View attachment 479677

After getting no response knocking on windows, I called 911 and a Dillon County Sheriff Deputy showed up about 10 minutes later. After breaking the driver side window and unlocking the doors, the deputy confirmed that Hook had been deceased for quite some time. The Dillon County Coroner arrived and the assessment was that Hook had passed away from a natural cause while sleeping.

Below is FCSO update. I am Helo & Sub. My search Partner is Recon Dive Recovery and was the one that informed me of the missing person and helped coordinate the search effort I "was' planning to do.

View attachment 479686

There are many questions I have about this case I am trying to get answers to.

1.) Who did FBSO contact to search the Ping Location? Dillon City PD or Dillon County SO who says they were not informed.
2.) Regardless of who was contacted in Dillon County, would it still had made sense to check the Welcome Center? That's the first place I went.
3.) How does a deceased individual clearly visible in his truck not be noticed or checked for almost a week in front of the main building? (Head was visible in the rear driver side window and illuminated by a street light above at night and both stocking feet were up against the window on the rear passenger side)

I am still working on getting answers but so far my voice mails are not getting a return call. There is some glaring communications issues and lack of effort here.

I will post updates here as I get them.

Very sad case! Thank you so much for the help you do in cases like that.
In reference to 3), I guess a question would be if you hadn't been looking for that specific car, and just saw a guy seemingly sleeping in his car, would you have checked on him? I'm kind of embarrassed to admit, but I would 100% just assume they were sleeping soundly and leave him be, especially because it was at a Welcome Center where someone may pull in for a quick nap or a rest from driving. If I saw him hours later and he hadn't moved, I may be suspicious, but people usually don't stay at welcome centers for very long. As for employees of the center...I have no idea. Maybe they tended to park in a different lot, or had a parking lot that was frequented by non-patrons, or maybe like so many of us they were caught up in their own lives and didnt notice

 

[Vern_S]

Very sad case! Thank you so much for the help you do in cases like that.
In reference to 3), I guess a question would be if you hadn't been looking for that specific car, and just saw a guy seemingly sleeping in his car, would you have checked on him? I'm kind of embarrassed to admit, but I would 100% just assume they were sleeping soundly and leave him be, especially because it was at a Welcome Center where someone may pull in for a quick nap or a rest from driving. If I saw him hours later and he hadn't moved, I may be suspicious, but people usually don't stay at welcome centers for very long. As for employees of the center...I have no idea. Maybe they tended to park in a different lot, or had a parking lot that was frequented by non-patrons, or maybe like so many of us they were caught up in their own lives and didnt notice

Excellent questions. I would not expect routine visitors travelling through the area to pay much attention to people sleeping in their cars. I sleep in my truck or cargo trailer all of the time. I guess if an "odd smell" get's their attention, that would provoke a response. That is how my nephew was finally found in his apartment several days after a fentanyl overdose.

As for employee's, especially at a welcome center, they definitely should be keeping an eye on vehicles that are there for an extended period of time (12 hours or more). I have approached many of the maintenance workers at rest areas and a large number of them do not even speak English.

When I head back to NC at the end of the month, I plan to visit Dillon County and do some enquiry both with law enforcement and with the Welcome Center. There is a serious lack of training and communications to be addressed. If need be, I will go to the Department of Transportation in Columbia SC.