By Stephanie Frazier
LUFKIN, TX (KTRE) - A Silver Alert has been discontinued for an elderly man who has been missing for five days.
According to Lufkin Police spokesperson Jessica Pebsworth, officers recovered the body of missing Alzheimer’s patient Moses Jeffero, 85, on Thursday night.
Pebsworth said that a citizen called dispatch at 7:58 p.m. to report seeing something suspicious in a creek that runs along Ellen Trout Drive near Sayers Street. Officers arrived to find a piece of plastic in the water but continued walking the creek bed as the water had receded substantially since previous searches were conducted. She said that is when they located Jeffero’s body in the water.
Justice of the Peace Pct. 1 Billy Ball came to the scene and performed a death inquest, police said.
Jeffero was reported missing by his wife around 6 p.m. Sunday.
In the time since his disappearance, officers have searched via ground, helicopter, drone and canine units to no avail. Detectives also sought leads out of town due to Jeffero telling his wife recently that he wanted to go “home” as his disease progressed; he considered Huntsville his home, the family said.
Lufkin Police Chief David Thomas said he wanted to thank all the volunteers who came to help search day after day.
“Please keep the Jeffero family in your thoughts and prayers as they go through this tragic loss,” Thomas said. “With his decades of service as a role model and mentor, Mr. Jeffero was an irreplaceable part of this community. He will truly be missed.”
Pebsworth said that an autopsy has been ordered.
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