Story Created:
Oct 12, 2009 at 5:07 PM MST
Story Updated:
Oct 12, 2009 at 5:15 PM MST
PARMA - Where's Willie?
It's the question one family's been asking for about a week now. Willie Evans, 97, was last seen at Jack's gas station in Parma. No one knows where the great-grandfather, who's been missing for about a week.
"We're more than worried," said Jason Crump, Evan's grandson.
Crump said it's not like his grandfather to just disappear. Despite fighting bone cancer, he says the 97-year-old has a clear mind.
"If he's not out there pulling weeds with the hoe, he's playing in the garage stripping metal," Crump said. "My grandfather worked every day. He said 'the only thing I can't do is stop working."
Willie was last seen at Jack's gas station in Parma Tuesday, Oct. 6. The family says they called Parma Police when he didn't return home. The family says they're upset with authorities who who waited two days to file a missing person's report.
Parma Police chief Albert Erickson says officers searched for Evans the night he went missing but didn't find anything.
"I don't ever want to get in the position where I second guess my officers," Erickson said. "Could they have taken the report on the time of the initial call? Yes. Should they have? It's easy to arm chair quarter-back."
For the Crump family, they say the last week has been almost too much to bear and hope Evans turns up soon. On top of Evan's disappearance, the Crumps say his great-granddaughter had a seizure over the weekend and died.
If you have any information about this case, call Parma Police at 208.722.5900.