CULLMAN, Ala. – The search continues for a missing Vinemont man. Jackie Hale, 51, and approximately 200 pounds, was last seen Tuesday, Oct. 25, around 2:30 p.m. on a game camera near Bangor Cave in Blount County. He was wearing a blue T-shirt, gray shorts and tennis shoes. Hale does not have a phone, vehicle or any money. He is listed as missing and endangered.
Deputies with the Blount County Sheriff’s Office and volunteers have searched the cave, but they have found no signs of Hale.
Hale was previously seen walking north on U.S. Highway 31 North, just past County Road 9 in Blount County shortly before midnight on Tuesday. Hale has serious health conditions and has been without his medication for several days.
Deputies with the Bounty County Sheriff’s Office have been searching along Highway 31 and areas around the Cullman County line and County Road 7 since Wednesday. Agencies assisting with the search include Alabama Search and Rescue, Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) Aviation Unit, Huntsville Cave Rescue Unit, RAT-SAR, Bangor Fire & Rescue and the Childersburg Rescue Squad.
“On Wednesday, I had a group that had called and said they have dogs and drones and I said, ‘Well, come on,’ and there was also a state helicopter that same day looking all over,” said Blount County Sheriff Mark Moon. “I would tell people to call 911 if they see him because he is off of his medication. I don’t believe he’s violent, but I still would not want people to approach him.”
Anyone who wishes to volunteer in the search to find Hale should contact the Blount County Sheriff’s Office at 205-625-4127.
Hale’s daughter, Selitia Garner, and her father-in-law, Keith Garner, have organized their own search for Hale. To volunteer, contact Selitia Garner through her Facebook page or call or text Keith Garner at 256-636-1216.
Selitia Garner posted to Facebook Friday morning, Oct 8:
Day 4 of looking for my Daddy. Lots more volunteer groups coming in to help that I will never be able to repay for all of their efforts, no thanks to Blount County Sheriff’s Office. If you have messaged me, text me, or reached out to me through comments and I have not replied, I’m so sorry. I’m doing the best that I can to hold it together and keep going. I’m running on nothing but adrenaline at this point. Pissed is an understatement for how my family has been treated, and the lack of human compassion that has been shown towards my Daddy. No one should have to go through this and be treated the way that we have been treated.
I say all of this to ask, if you know the woods around Bangor Caves or have experience in search and rescue and you have a side by side, four-wheeler, horses, etc. and you can come help us today please, I’m begging at this point, please reach out to my father-in-law Keith Garner 256-636-1216 and come help me take my Daddy home. I don’t know if I can make it even one more night going home and leaving him out in the cold with nothing to eat or drink. This is an organized search so please don’t come out and go off in the woods without contacting us first so that you aren’t throwing off the tracking dogs. I appreciate everything everyone has done from the bottom of my heart. I will never be able to repay these folks. I would like to thank Dallas Kim Smith (The Message of the Cross Church) for EVERYTHING they have done, they have tired themselves out and gotten together so many donations for food, drinks, and supplies for all of these volunteers and allowed us to totally invade their lives and space to house a command station. I don’t know where we would be if it weren’t for them. I’ve had messages and calls from all over offering prayers and showing support and I appreciate all of those too.
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