Footprints Narrow Search for Missing Singer Craig Strickland, Feared Drowned

Footprints discovered in the quest to find Craig Strickland have helped narrow the search area for Backroad Anthem's still missing lead singer.

Strickland and his younger hunting companion Chase Morland headed into an epic winter storm a week ago to "kill ducks" in Oklahoma's sprawling Kaw Lake region.

The latter drowned after an apparent capsizing, and was found dead by searchers alongside Craig Strickland's black labrador retriever, Sammy.

The fact that the middle-aged dog survived the deadly misadventure, however, has fueled hopes that the 29-year-old country music star is also still alive, albeit lost somewhere in the wilderness.

That hope is fast dwindling though because, apart from stumbling across the trio's footprints and other tracks they'd left when first arriving in the area last Sunday, there has been no subsequent signs of life.

Massive Kaw Lake is famous for its monster waves and treacherous boating conditions, so there is reasonable speculation now that Craig Strickland might likewise have perished in it.

If so -- due to air and water temps -- it could take quite awhile for his body to resurface, which most likely will be in the vicinity of where Chase Morland's corpse was found and close to the place the two men had launched from.

In the meantime, search teams have begun probing the lake's bottom, in the specific area where their footprints were finally discovered this week, using sophisticated sonar.

E.R.

MISSING PERSONS ALERT: John Fernandez, 22, of Middletown NJ

Missing college student John Fernandez (below) vanished from Middletown NJ last month. He has not been seen or heard from since.

The 22-year-old accountant major was first reported missing by his family in mid December, after he allegedly failed to return from a walk in the Natco Lake region on Sunday the 13th and, thereafter, lost contact with them.

A preliminary investigation turned up John Fernandez's cell phone in a ditch off Highway 36 near the Gramercy Lakeside Manor, but there were no other signs of the missing young man.

Police have utilized K9s, all-terrain vehicles, helicopters -- and even divers -- in the massive search for him, and similarly report that they've found "no clues" as to his fate or whereabouts.

Weeks later, John Fernandez is still gone without a trace, and his worried loved ones are now asking for the public's help in solving his mysterious missing persons case.

Fernandez is a slender Filipino male, about 5-foot-10 with dark hair and brown eyes. He was thought to be wearing a gray leather jacket with a hoodie and black high-tops on the day he disappeared.

Anyone who knows what happened to him should alert Detective Kelly Godley of the Middletown Police Department at (732) 615-2120. Tips also can be anonymously posted in this article's comment section.

E.R.

STILL MISSING: Adrian Lynch, 20, from Jersey UK

ALERT: Adrian Lynch (below) went missing from Jersey UK early last month, after attending a holiday party with his coworkers at the Merton Hotel.

Weeks later, despite massive searches for the 20-year-old electrician that included fields, waterways and nearly a dozen law enforcement agencies, he still remains gone without a trace.

UK police and volunteers have spent "thousands of hours" trying to find the missing Jerseyman, who, according to eyewitnesses and surveillance footage, was last seen taking a taxi in the predawn hours of December 5th.

Adrian 'Ady' Lynch reportedly abandoned his wallet, cell phone and a belt that morning, and, whatever his next destination was supposed to have been, he never arrived there.

Family members of the still-missing young man say his continued absence, without making contact with them, is completely uncharacteristic and "agonizing." 

They urge anyone with information -- "no matter how insignificant" -- that can help solve their loved one's missing persons case to immediately alert authorities at 612612, or CrimeStoppers at 0800555111. (Tips may also be left anonymously on our website via this article's comment section.)

Adrian Lynch is a slim, Caucasian male, about 5-foot-9 and 150 pounds with tanned skin and brown hair. He is believed to have been wearing a blue suit and white button-down shirt on the day that he vanished.

Eponymous Rox

Missing Persons Alert for Matt Labounty, 21 of Troy NY

Missing man Matt Labounty (below) is the nephew of Troy New York's police captain, Joe Centanni.

The 21-year-old disappeared in the vicinity of Adams and Fifth Street during the predawn hours of Christmas day, presumably while walking back to his home.

No one has seen or heard from Matt Labounty since early that Friday morning, and divers are now actively searching the waters beneath the Menands city bridge which spans the nearby Hudson.

However, investigators told reporters for local news station WRGB they “do not have any evidence that he is in the river," calling the search for him there just "one of the avenues that we are taking at this moment."

Matthew A. Labounty is a young Caucasian male about 6-foot-2 and 170 pounds, with short brown hair. He is believed to have been wearing a dark plaid shirt and jeans on the day that he vanished.

Anyone who knows what happened to him, or his current whereabouts, is urged to alert detectives of the Troy Police Department at 518-270-4411.

This missing persons case is developing -- please check the comment section for additional updates, and feel free to post your own there as well.

E.R

Missing College Student Anthony Urena Found Drowned in NYC

Missing college student Anthony Urena disappeared from a NYC bar in mid November ... his body was fished out of the Hudson River on Christmas day.

It took awhile for the coroner's office to confirm that the drowned corpse of a young Hispanic male, found near Hoboken NJ several days ago, was in fact that of the "clean cut" and "straight-laced" 23-year-old Urena.

Urena was reported missing from Lehman College in New York City, after he got separated from his friends at the Cliff Lounge near Tenth Avenue and 202nd Street on the evening of November 14th.

The young man's family has been searching for him nonstop for almost seven weeks in a row, and initially suspected he was the victim of foul play, because he had never before vanished without a trace.

This week, however, the mother of Anthony Urena disclosed that police told her his disappearance and drowning death was "not suspicious" and that he "accidentally" died when he drunkenly slipped "and fell into the water."

It's not clear what her son was doing at the river's edge in the first place, but “I’m glad that at least he’s found," his mom said. "I didn’t want him to be found this way,” though, she sadly added.

Eponymous Rox

The Disappearance and Drowning of Henry McCabe

Long missing Minnesota tax auditor Henry McCabe (below) has been found drowned this week, two months after leaving a desperate voice-mail with relatives containing screams and growls.

 On Monday, a kayaker discovered Mr. McCabe’s body in Rush Lake, some distance from where the 32-year-old had been dropped off -- and promptly vanished -- after a night out with his friends.

Searchers have acknowledged they previously scoured that same area and found nothing. However, a law enforcement official said yesterday that the victim appeared to have been in the water “for quite some time.”

Henry McCabe was a salaried employee of Minnesota’s Department of Revenue and is survived by a wife and two young children.

Despite Mr. McCabe's bizarre missing persons case -- and his frightened two-minute message begging for help -- police are now suggesting there's “nothing suspicious” about his disappearance and non-recreational drowning…

Read my original missing persons report for Crime Magazine below:

The Henry McCabe missing persons case has taken a scary turn in Minnesota this week:

The 31-year-old Department of Revenue auditor mysteriously vanished almost a month ago during a night out with a friend.

He hasn’t been seen or heard from since then, but, this week, a voicemail recording from that evening has surfaced … and it’s a total fright:

The troubling call, which was placed from McCabe’s cell phone at 2:30 in the morning of September 7th, contains about 2-minutes of screams, growls and moans, then is punctuated with a few seconds of silence before someone says “stop it.”

The growls turn into high pitch moans, like he's moaning in pain,” an individual familiar with the Henry McCabe investigation and his last known voicemail message stated yesterday.

A police spokesman also told reporters that the FBI is now analyzing the recording.

Investigators believe this final call originated from the vicinity of Rice Creek Park which borders on the Mounds View and New Brighton communities, although a wide-scale search there produced no evidence.

Because that district isn’t where McCabe’s acquaintance reportedly dropped him off, loved ones of the missing man have expressed some doubts about the accuracy -- or truthfulness -- of this person’s account.

McCabe allegedly left a Spring Lake Park nightclub with his unnamed friend, who subsequently left him at a convenience store in Fridley.

The still-missing man is married with children and lives in Mounds View with his family. The Mounds View Police Department is therefore heading up the investigation into his disappearance and urges anyone with info about it to contact them at 763-717-4070.

The Fridley Police Department has also joined forces with the MVPD in an effort to solve Mr. McCabe’s missing persons case -- FPD detectives can be reached at 763-572-3629.

Eponymous Rox

SMILEY FACE DISCUSSION: Missing Student James Hubert Found Badly Beaten

Missing Georgia tech student James Hubert was miraculously found by classmates today semiconscious and displaying injuries consistent with blunt force trauma.

Is this what a Smiley Face murder victim looks like before he's dumped in the water and his wounds wash away ... ?