Here’s What Search Efforts Were Like Searching For Chris Reed

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – The missing 25-year-old autistic man from Columbus has been found.

Chris Reed was reported missing Monday and since then, dozens have hit the streets searching for him.

There’s no doubt those efforts paid off.

WCBI’s Jory Tally tagged along for part of  Wednesday’s search and found out what all goes into searching for someone who is missing.

“Gray pullover. Black sweatpants. White shoes.”

That’s what 25-year old Chris Reed was last seen wearing before he went missing.

His clothing and physical description, along with his demeanor, are what Columbus Police Officers have been looking for, while they were out searching.

“Christopher Reed, who is missing. I was wondering if you guys knew anything about it, or have seen him anywhere, or, somebody said he was seen in Sandfield somewhere, and we’re just checking every lead we can,” says Columbus Police Officer, Tony Nelson.

Chris was missing for 2 days.

“Possibly hadn’t eaten. He may be a little confused. Of course, we know it was cold last night, so there are some real concerns here that we want to make sure that we get him to a safe place as soon as we can,” says Columbus Police Chief Fred Shelton.

That’s why first responders and volunteers were working around the clock.

Columbus Fire and Rescue were out on foot and on wheels, searching and running down every lead, like this one they tracked down when we were out searching with them.

“House to house, down the street, trying to search abandoned buildings, and that’s another thing though, if anybody has got a shed out back or something, and they see glass broken or a door open, to check it, call us, if they think something is suspicious, call us and we’ll come check it,” says Columbus Fire and Rescue Overland Search and Rescue Coordinator, Michael Miller.

There have been many reported sightings of Chris since Monday.

“In the Sandfield area. We’ve had reports that he’s been seen out at Walmart. We’ve had reports basically all over the city. Anywhere we see, or anywhere we get a report, we’re going to go there and check it out just in case,” says Nelson.

Those sightings are what kept officers and firefighters going.

When Chris went missing, the post made by the the Columbus Police Department, reached nearly 300-thousand people.