Missing man’s son fears foul play
Please watch for Bill's Truck.
Dave Moore said he frequently looks out at the driveway where his 82-year-old father used to park his pickup and asks, “What happened to you, Pop?”
Since William (Bill) Moore went missing without a trace from their home a year ago tomorrow, Dave still has no answer to that question.
After his wife, Marianna, passed away in 2001, Bill had lived with David and his wife Wendy at their home on Air Park Drive in Pecan Plantation.
Bill had been living an ordinary life, Dave said, but a trip into Granbury that Saturday, March 10, turned out to be anything but routine.
On Wednesday, he said he fears foul play may have caused his father’s disappearance.
It was the first time Dave said that on the record to the Hood County News.
GUT FEELING
“Personally, I have to assume there was some foul play – but I don’t have any evidence of that,” Dave said, noting that coming to that conclusion happened gradually as the months crawled by. “We kind of just slowly came to that conclusion – just kind of a gut feeling.”
He said he believes that if his father had been involved in an accident or if there were any other explanation, he and his vehicle would have been discovered by now.
“We’ve still heard absolutely nothing, despite the best efforts of the Sheriff’s Office,” Dave said. “We’re really disappointed at that. We’re heartbroken by the loss, and we continue to hope some answer will be found. We have had a lot of support from the community, for which we are grateful.”
Sheriff Roger Deeds said that Moore’s identifying information was issued to a nationwide missing persons database, but there have been no good leads.
“It is very frustrating to my deputies and myself to have an unsolved case go cold,” Deeds said Thursday. “We will continue to keep the case open and search out any leads that could help us find Mr. Moore. I want to bring closure to the family and always hope for a positive close to this case.”
Dave Moore said Wendy had grown closer to his father during his 10-plus years living in their home and has been extremely supportive.
“The two of us really help each other out. She spent a lot more time with him than I did because I was working,” said Dave, who is chairman of the Hood County Substance Abuse Council and is a longtime local board member for United Way. “They were very close, and he was very dependent on her for his health care.”
LAST SIGHTING
A photo of Bill’s 1997 chocolate brown and silver Dodge Ram pickup was captured on a security camera as it was being driven out of Pecan’s front gate at 1:06 p.m. that Saturday.
Dave said he spoke to his dad earlier that day about going to pick up a special-order part at O’Reilly Auto Parts on South Morgan Street in Granbury. That was the last time he spoke to him. Employees there told Dave that Bill Moore did not pick up the item.
Dave said his dad often enjoyed eating at various fast-food restaurants on trips into Granbury. An employee at the Wendy’s on Highway 377 reported that he thought he had seen him there that day at about 1:30, but that tip led nowhere.
Bill Moore left home with two credit cards and a small amount of cash. Neither card was ever used, investigators noted. He left his checkbook, reading glasses and tobacco pouch at home.
Dave said that his dad had not been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or any other form of dementia, although he said he got lost a couple of times while driving in the past.
Bill Moore is described as 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighing 145 pounds. He has brown eyes. On the day he went missing, he was believed to be wearing slacks, a shirt, sweatshirt and windbreaker.
The license plate on his pickup was (Texas) 68MFS6. It had red reflective tape on various spots on the tailgate.
To report information or tips on Bill Moore’s status, either call the Sheriff’s Office at 817-579-3316 during regular business hours (Monday through Friday), or call 911 after hours.
LOOKING AHEAD
While a feeling of discouragement might be natural in such a situation, Dave has not given up hope of waking up one day and hearing good news.
“It’s a hard feeling to describe,” Dave said, noting that the thought of burying a parent is not the normal course of life. “I’d just like to know.”
He said he receives support from friends and others he connects with through volunteer work in the community. He said he stays busy in an effort to “put it out of my mind – as a coping mechanism.”
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