HOLLAND, Mich. – Two months ago, 49-year-old Fred Byrne went missing.
The family of Fred is hoping that a new strategy will help them in their goal of bringing him back home safely.
Fred was last seen leaving his mother’s house in Holland on February 12th. His car was found roughly 560 miles away, parked in the Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri.
Two months has taken it’s toll on the entire family involved in the search.
Fred’s mother-in-law, Marie Hamilton said, “As time goes on it just gets frustrating. We just want to find Fred and bring him back home. So we hold it together to reach that goal.”
In two months time, the search for Fred has grown through social media.
The ‘Find Fred Byrne’ Facebook page has nearly 15 hundred ‘likes’.
Family members post personal stories and memories of the 49-year-old as a form of therapy and to build connections with those looking to help.
“They help us,” Hamilton said of the personal stories. “And I think they help people who have asked us to tell them about Fred.”
Now, it’s Fred’s family asking for help themselves.
“People who have said to us, how can we help? What can we do? We are going to contact them and say, could you make a few calls for us? Because there are many calls to make.”
Two days after Fred went missing, his car was found in Missouri.
They want to follow the path his car took through Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, calling police along the way.
“We have a list of counties. We have a list of contacts for law enforcement agencies and we are going to be calling them and asking have they heard about Fred Byrne and when Fred went missing.”
The family says they are prepared to send ‘missing’ flyers to police with the hope of getting new people involved in their quest to bring Fred back home.
If you have information, please contact Detective, Brian Miller, Big Rapids DPS, at 231-796-4811 or Silent Observer at 877-887-4536.
