MISSION – The Umatilla Tribal Police Department (UTPD) is still searching for missing 71-year-old Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) member Wesley Dixon Jones, who was last seen Oct. 5.
Since Oct. 6, UTPD Det. William Morris said the department has conducted two searches with the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office Search & Rescue using canines, three aerial drone searches over parts of the Umatilla River and two searches on foot.
“So we’re still continuing to follow up on every lead we get,” Morris said. “We’ve had a few false sightings of him in different areas that we’ve looked into. We do have some more investigative steps to take, but this continues to be a missing person (case).”
Jones’s family reported him missing at approximately 10:44 p.m. on Oct. 5 after he had not been seen since that afternoon. He is described as a 5-feet, 8-inch-tall Native American weighing approximately 140 pounds with long black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a black and red Tigerscott jacket, black shirt, black sweatpants and boots.
Jones’s last known sighting was on camera at approximately 3:15 p.m. on Oct. 5 when he was seen in a vehicle along east Short Mile Road, Morris said. He added that foul play is being considered but hasn’t been substantiated and that if Jones is found the UTPD would know more about the circumstances behind his disappearance.
“We don’t have any information that any crime was involved,” Morris said. “That obviously could change, but just right now the information we have does not indicate a crime. We’re treating it as if it could be because it could be, but we haven’t substantiated any criminal act.”
Morris said the UTPD has conducted searches between the bridge spanning Umatilla River on Highway 331 and the train tracks at Sheoships Lane. He said the focus of the searches and investigation has been concentrated on the Umatilla Indian Reservation (UIR) because the most reliable information of Jones’s last know whereabouts center around the UIR.
Jones’s family has also conducted searches, including one on horseback. Morris said although the UTPD was not directly associated with those searches the family is keeping him informed.
Anyone with information is asked to call the UTPD at 541-278-0550 or Morris at 541-969-7139.
