Larry Woods Missing 5/18/84 KS
Monday, January 29, 2007 Missing man still sought By Gale Rose of the Tribune Staff Published: Monday, January 29, 2007 1:23 PM CST He has been missing for almost 23 years and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation is still trying to find him. On May 18, 1984, 36-year-old Larry Woods of 912 Starr Court in Pratt disappeared and has not been seen since. This is the only active missing persons case in Pratt County and it is still open. Unlike the recent recovery of two kidnapped boys in Missouri that made international headlines, one had been missing for four years, there has been no conclusion to this missing man case. Woods was the owner of Woods Tree Service and had told his family he was going to Turon to see a guy about a tree trimming job, said Bruce Mellor, Kansas Bureau of Investigation special agent in charge of the Great Bend Region. At 9 a.m. on Friday, May 18, 1984, he was seen at Sharon's Conoco station in Turon in a 1981 Chevrolet pickup. He was wearing blue jeans, a light colored t-shirt and a baseball cap with Woods Tree Service on the front, according to a Tribune story on May 22, 1984. It was the last time he was seen, Mellor said. His pickup was found east of Turon just off of K-61 highway in Reno County. Although the pickup and area were thoroughly searched, there was no sign of foul play and no sign of Woods. "There were no drag marks. There were no signs of a struggle," said Ray McGuire who was Pratt County Sheriff at the time of the disappearance. "There was no blood, no scrape marks, nothing as I remember it." The KBI was quickly brought in on the case and joined with Pratt County and Reno County law enforcement in the investigation. "We didn't have much leads at all," said Don Burns, retired KBI special agent who investigated the case. "The man didn't show up and his pickup was found abandoned out east of town (Turon)." McGuire took part in an aerial search of the area but the search came up empty, McGuire said. "We flew around out there but there was nothing," McGuire said. The investigation proved to be likewise frustrating. Family, friends, work associates were all questioned but there was nothing substantial or provable. There were lots of rumors but there was no solid evidence leading to anyone, Burns said. There was a story that Woods had been seen in Texas but again the investigation came up with nothing. "We couldn't tie anything to anybody," McGuire said. "We did a lot of work in Pratt County but never got any leads. There were all kinds of rumors but nobody could be tied to the case." Although the case is 23 years old, the KBI still receives and follows leads. They followed a lead received in June of 2006 and received a call about the case in the middle of January 2007. "When leads come up we follow them through," Mellor said. Because it is still open, there are aspects of the case that law enforcement will not discuss. "There's several things I can't talk about to this day because of circumstances," Burns said. Not being able to solve the case is frustrating because there is no closure but some cases can be solved and some can't, Burns said. Pratt Police Chief Steve Holmes, who was going fishing and happened to see Woods abandon pickup, said that to his knowledge, the Woods case is the only unsolved missing person's case in Pratt County. In other cases, the person missing was eventually found, Holmes said. From the May 22, 1984 Tribune story Woods is described as being 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighs 170 pounds and has medium length brown hair and green eyes. He has a lion's head tattoo on his right upper arm and a devils' head tattoo on his upper left arm. He was born in 1947 and would be 60 years old now. The case is listed in the National Crime Information Center. The investigation is still open and anyone with information about the disappearance should contact the Kansas Bureau of Investigation or contact the Pratt County Police Department at 672-5551. To give information anonymously, call Crime Stoppers at 672-3050. The calls are not recorded, there is no caller ID, calls are not traced and no name needs to be given. Crime Stoppers offers a cash reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest for this or any crime. Crime Stoppers is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. http://www.pratttribune.com/articles/2007/01/29/news/01.txt