Sasquatch Chronicles Blog

Mar 16

West Bridgewater disappearance

Listener Don sent this to me. Lets hope they find this gentleman alive and well. Don writes “This is a good friend of mine, I’ve known Tommy since I was 14.

This area, where he disappeared Friday, is the area where I heard my first 2 Bigfoot encounters, by friends of mine.. 1977, 1978 .. It should also be mentioned, this is part of the Hockomock swamp. Tommy is no stranger to swamp, spent many days fishing with him there hoping for Tommy’s safe return, and praying its just something stupid. One interesting item i read was “Stopped the search Monday, because they needed to clear the area of scents”  I’m taking that as, dogs won’t track!”

Thomas K. Stone’s last known phone call occurred thirty minutes after his vehicle was spotted at West Meadows Pond, where authorities launched a massive search on Sunday. Authorities will allow the area to clear of scents Monday while they search the West Bridgewater man’s bank records, web information and cell phone data.

WEST BRIDGEWATER – Thirty minutes before someone heard from Thomas Stone for the last time on Friday morning, a West Bridgewater police officer noticed his car parked near the West Meadows Pond.

It’s one of the details emerging in the strange disappearance of the West Bridgewater resident, but as of Monday afternoon, authorities still had not located the 53-year-old man.

A full-scale search and rescue effort coordinated by South Eastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council that began early Sunday morning was suspended temporarily Monday, as police citing a need to clear the wooded area of scents to make the tracking dogs more effective.

West Bridgewater Det. Sgt. Tim Nixon, the search’s lead investigator, did not respond to an email and phone messages left Monday as of 8 p.m.

While the traditional search and rescue operation was suspended Monday, authorities planned to search through bank records, IP addresses and cell phone data to uncover more information before an expected resumption of the SEMLEC search on Tuesday.

A nine-hour search Sunday covered 1.5 square miles but didn’t bring investigators any strong leads, Nixon said Sunday evening.

“(The situation) is void of any information that gave us a direction,” said Nixon. “We kind of just have this guy that’s not around.”

According to a West Bridgewater police report, one of the people who reported him missing on Saturday spoke to Stone over the telephone at 11:45 a.m. on Friday. Thirty minutes earlier — and more than 12 hours before Stone would be reported missing — West Bridgewater Police Officer Daniel Sullivan noticed Stone’s red Ford Expedition parked in a dirt lot near the pond, the report said.

Just after midnight on Saturday morning, two people came to the station to report Stone’s disappearance at 12:16 a.m. on Saturday morning. The reporting parties had checked Stone’s home and called his cell phone, but the calls were sent directly to voicemail.

Police then attempted to locate him via cell phone tower. His cell phone pinged a tower near 394 Spring St. in East Bridgewater, more than four miles away from where Stone’s vehicle had been parked, locked and abandoned.

The first K-9 unit on scene Saturday tracked a scent from the vehicle into the West Meadows area, according to the report.

Police also searched Stone’s West Bridgewater apartment on Saturday after the landlord granted access to the residence, according to the report. Authorities did not disclose if anything useful was found in the apartment.

As news of Stone’s disappearance spread, a group of local residents gathered in the parking lot but were told by police not to enter the tree line until the K-9 unit had been notified. Those gathered were also cautioned by police to stay in groups of two and make sure their cell phones were fully charged so they did not get stranded in the woods after dark.

The West Meadows Pond is 128 acres of wetlands located inside the West Bridgewater State Forest, an area that Nixon called “unfortunately…huge.”

“We are exploring all avenues,” Nixon said after 5 p.m. Sunday evening. “We will be searching again.”

 

 

Source: enterprisenews.com

33 Responses to “West Bridgewater disappearance”

      • DonRay

        Gale.. that cell tower, which is about 4 miles away… could have been the tower that would pick up his call from the place where they were searching for him…. also,,, there is a river that connects the cell tower area to the spot where he went missing….

  2. michael n

    Make sure their phones were charged go in groups of two and dont get stranded in the woods at night? Sounds like the police know a lot more about these woods then what they are willing to say, huh?

    • Karey E B

      Yeah, I thought the same thing—something here isn’t adding up, and the police assume they’re dealing with a bunch of dummies who don’t know they’re being spoon fed skunk pie.
      A man is missing.
      Why don’t they come clean, and go all-in, massive group/hunt to bring this man out, or at least find him??!! If that was my family member, the police tiptoeing around would put me into a purple rage! The dogs need the scent to clear? Yeah, no.

    • Andrew M

      To me it seems like a standard precaution against anyone else going missing by Squatch or otherwise. The scent thing is what really makes it seem apparent it was likely a Sasquatch given his experience in the swamps.

  4. Frank S

    Yup, sounds eerily like another 411 missing case. Let’s hope it’s not, but dogs not tracking, swamp land, travel in teams with 2 people, cell phones charged. Authorities hush on many cues. Not good. Sad but true

  5. Scott D

    Posted three hours ago 3/16 to FB from the local PD,

    ***UPDATED PRESS RELEASE: Thomas Stone – Missing Person***
    Over the past few days, the West Bridgewater Police Department has conducted a very extensive investigation into the missing person report of Thomas Stone.
    Detectives have been reviewing many areas of Mr. Stone’s personal life and interviewed many individuals with the hope of finding information that would assist in this investigation. Detectives are monitoring both cellular and financial institutions linked to Stone. At this time detectives have found no personal activity since Thomas Stone’s disappearance. Unfortunately, if Stone entered West Meadows in the timeframe believed by investigators, our efforts have now become a recovery operation.
    Officers from Southeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council Search and Rescue Team (SEMLEC) along with West Bridgewater detectives spent the day searching West Meadows.
    West Bridgewater Police Department is a member of SEMLEC and again called in this search team consisting of 35 members from 28 communities.
    Along with the SEMLEC officers were two Massachusetts State Police K-9 Troopers with trained cadaver dogs. Detectives additionally called in a local resident who assisted with a drone search. Michael Hourihan, a lead pilot of MS Aerial, flew several drones in areas where officers were having a tough time accessing. This technology sped up the search. The drone was able to cover much more area. Officers were impressed with the capabilities of the drone and the exceptional real time video. We plan on using this technology in future searches.
    It appears, along with this investigation and the physical search of the (160) acre West Meadows area, that the West Bridgewater Police Department has exhausted all areas of the investigation.
    We will continue to monitor the situation but believe at this time without new or updated information the search for Thomas Stone in the West Meadows Area will stop. Many friends have contacted detectives wishing to assist in a civilian search. We are now attempting to plan and coordinate this civilian assisted search. Information will be forthcoming about this search.
    Along with the community, Our thoughts are with the family of Thomas Stone.
    Anyone that may have information related to this investigation, please call our detective division at 508-894-1293.
    Any additional information please email, Lt Victor Flaherty at VFlaherty@wbpd.com

  8. Karey E B

    Well, shoot…
    Damn, damn, damn.
    Praying, hoping, talking to God as I go about my mundane chores. I find myself continuously pausing and really thinking about what this man is going through, out there….is he now confused, dazed, lost, terrified….
    And Don. Experiencing the same emotions as the poor gentleman out in the woods…

    I’m so sorry you’re having to endure this, Don. I’m so sorry. I truly hope some crazy miracle happens and they find your friend, albeit cold, hungry…but okay.

    • Pepper N

      We’re you able to go and have there been any updates yet?. My prayers are with him and you and all the search teams. I was executive director of our Search n Rescue and special tactics with our Sheriff’s Dept and many years of training and experience and also trained and certified from s true Akchin indian. Not trying to turn the story around but if my health were better and I could walk, I would offer my services to you folks. I’m retired now but I’ve done alot of rewarding turnouts with helping. God be with you.

  14. michael n

    Donray please be careful my friend! ! My thoughts and prayers are with you and Tom and his family!! With all of your knowledge about this subject im sure you could be of great service. I hope beyond all hope that tom is ok somewhere out there. Again please be careful.

  15. Janet B

    Terribly sorry Don…I truly hope and pray that your friend is found safe. If you’re going, please remember all the precautions we’ve all been fortunate enough to learn here.

    Good thoughts and prayers going with you, and for your friend.

    Jan

  18. Tam C

    One thing I do know is that if this is a swamp filled area, the police are right that the dogs will have a much more difficult time tracking in this, if they can at all. This is common with some of the best hunting dogs.

    So sorry for what your going through Don, you’ll be in my prayers tonight as well as your friend. Tara is right, try and take someone with you that won’t tire out so quickly and be careful. Remember that a cell phone battery will wear down, and quickly from what people tell me these days.

  20. DonRay

    Thanx again… everyone, I heard from the family, it has been ruled foul play now,,,,, They are putting together civilian teams now.. Im starting to get in the pissed off state now…. realizing that most of the searchers had never been there before… and local police were asked to keep out civilians that know there area… i understand the politics of it all,,,, I have been trying to direct some of the searchers from here, in Maine. for me its not enough…. I have a lot to do today, going down tomorrow, if nothing has changed….. I have learned that one of the newly built houses, just east of West Meadows , has had something large crashing into fence & side of house late at night….. My mother heard this at a Lions meeting last night…. yes, i will do my best to investigate this when i’m down there…. Ciao

  21. Charles K

    another strange thing is that this is not on ANY of the 3 local news stations? Even if you go to their websites and search for missing man, it turns up another case back in February and that guy was found. He got stuck in mud. why isn’t this headline news??

  22. Jeffrey H

    Wow, fishy. Stop searching for someone who could be in a detrimental position cause of dogs not hitting on a smell?? I bet if you talk with any of you older retired LOE that you might be surprised on this and how it’s being conducted, of course I can be wrong! But I will pray for DonRay’s friend Tom & his family, they are part of our SC community. Thanks for the updates DonRay. I’m sorry for what your going through.

  23. cyndie r

    Im not sure I understand. If a person falls victim to a wild animal is that considered foul play? Would it be possible that the authorities might call the situation foul play to make it look like its not a wild animal?

    Anyway DonRay: my thoughts and prayers are with you and Tom. Praying for a miracle.

  24. Sean C

    I wish the best for all involved. I wonder how long things like this have been covered up from us all. It has to be getting harder to orchestrate the deception, with technology going the way it is. You’re all in my prayers.

    Chris C

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