Missing church deacon found in South Dakota

Staff Reports

An Algood, Tenn., church deacon, missing for three months, was found in mid-November in Rapid City, S.D., where he had lived in a tent and made friends at the Southside church.

Derek Crawford, 39,had disappeared Aug. 15, when he went to a volunteer firefighters’ meeting butdid not return home. His cell phone and car were found the next day near Nashville.

Several searches wereconducted, and a $10,000 reward was offered for information about hisdisappearance, The Tennessean reported.

Crawford wasdiscovered after missing persons fliers that had been distributed in churchesof Christ in several states reached the Southside church.

Apparently, financialproblems at Crawford’s business causedhim to flee.

“He just didn’t knowthat the hunt for him was going to escalate to the point that it did,’’ saidJim Eldridge, police chief in Algood.

Filed under: National Staff Reports

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Missing church deacon found in South Dakota

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