MISSION – With the search for missing 71-year-old Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) member Wesley Dixon Jones coming upon its third week, the Umatilla Tribal Police Department (UTPD) is asking the public for help.
“The UTPD is requesting video camera footage from anyone who has road-facing cameras and lives anywhere from Short Mile Road east to Cayuse Road, including River Road, or from Cayuse Road east to Bingham Road on the Umatilla Indian Reservation,” UTPD Det. William Morris said.
Morris said police have canvassed those areas but is asking anyone with video footage of the areas from Oct. 5 to upload to https://umatillatribalpd.evidence.com/axon/community-request/public/wes-jones
or call the UTPD at 541-278-0550 or him at 541-969-7139.
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 when that vehicle returned west on the same road Jones was no longer visible in it.
Morris said he could not disclose the driver’s identity because of the investigation.
“It is an open investigation, and we’re treating it as a criminal investigation because that’s still a possibility,” he said. “We are still actively searching for Wesley Jones, and because this is an open investigation we are unable to share certain specific steps we are taking. We continue to rule out possibilities as we gather more information.”
Jones 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 Tiger Scott jacket, black shirt, black sweatpants and boots.
Since Oct. 6, the UTPD 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.
Jones’s family has also conducted searches. Morris said although the UTPD was not directly associated with those searches the family is keeping him informed.
The MMIW Search & Hope Alliance will also conduct a search later this month using sonar equipment but requested dates not be published so the event is not overrun by onlookers.
Anyone with information regarding the case can call the UTPD at 541-278-0550 or Morris at 541-969-7139.
