PORT ANGELES — Mary Ann Hudson is asking the public to stay on the lookout for her 78-year-old brother.
Robert “Bob” Goss drove away in Hudson’s silver 2006 Jeep Cherokee sometime before dawn Monday and hasn’t come back since.
Family members are growing more and more concerned because Goss gets confused around strangers, rarely drives and couldn’t get up if he fell, Hudson said.
The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office issued a missing/endangered person alert for Goss on Tuesday.
He was last seen wearing a red pullover sweatshirt and a navy-blue cap with a “BERLIN” logo.
Goss is 6 feet 3 inches tall, weighs 160 pounds and has short gray hair and brown eyes.
Hudson believes her brother left in the middle of the night to buy some Coca Cola. As her brother’s caregiver, she has access to Goss’ bank account, which hasn’t been used since his disappearance.
“I check that twice an hour,” Hudson said.
Goss has lived with Hudson on Finn Hall Road, between Port Angeles and Sequim, for about two years.
Hudson helped the Sheriff’s Office post missing person fliers Wednesday.
She also spoke with worried family members, some of whom live in New Zealand, and searched the area where a utility worker reported seeing Goss on Monday morning.
Saw Goss on Monday
The utility worker thought he saw Goss driving near the intersection of Old Olympic Highway and U.S. Highway 101.
Hudson said she hoped the Sheriff’s Office would launch a search-and-rescue operation.
“I feel like if it was a 7-year-old boy, they’d have someone looking for him,” Hudson said.
Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict said deputies are constantly looking for Goss. He said there hasn’t been a search-and-rescue operation because they don’t know where to start.
The Sheriff’s Office would initiate such an operation if the Jeep is found, Benedict said.
“My guess is that he headed out of the county,” Benedict said.
The State Patrol and other law enforcement agencies have the Washington licence plate number — 161 VUO — and will alert the Sheriff’s Office if they spot the Jeep, Benedict said.
Hudson believes Goss is still in the Port Angeles-Sequim area because the gas tank was on low and her brother doesn’t carry cash.
NorthWest Cable News has posted a story with Goss’ image to its website. It has yet to air on television, Hudson said. She hopes that more media coverage will draw attention to the disappearance.
Anyone with information on Goss’ whereabouts is asked to phone the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office at 360-417-2459.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
