Reporter missing in New Jersey
Melanie Eversley, USA TODAY 1:42 a.m. EST January 16, 2014
Journalist and marathoner David Bird of New Jersey has been missing since Jan. 11.
Police, volunteers and the running community have rallied around the search for a 55-year-old marathoner from New Jersey and Dow Jones reporter who went missing on Jan. 11.
David Bird left his home in Long Hill Township, N.J., to go for an afternoon walk after a bout with an intestinal bug and never returned, according to published reports. Two hours after he didn't return, his wife, Nancy Bird, contacted police.
"I knew this wasn't right. Something was wrong," Nancy Bird told the Wall Street Journal. "He's a really great dad and a great husband."
Bird is a liver transplant patient who needs medication regularly, his wife has said.
He ran the 2013 ING New York City Marathon and Runner's World magazine published a piece asking the public for help in finding Bird.
Bird covers energy markets for the Wall Street Journal and has worked for Dow Jones for more than 20 years, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Facebook page of the Long Hill Township Police Department has turned into a detailed feed focused almost exclusively on what appears to be an intense effort to find Bird.
"The search for Mr. Bird enters its 5th day and 89th hour today," someone posted to the page on Wednesday. "We want to assure the public that everything related to a missing person investigation that can be done is being done with assets from local, county, state resources."
A Community Response Team of volunteer civilians has been working since Sunday morning to provide food to law enforcement, help search and distribute fliers, according to the page.
A poster circulated by the police department indicates that Bird has blue eyes and gray hair and has a scar on his abdomen. When he left home, he was wearing a red jacket, jeans, sneakers and glasses, according to the poster.
He is 6'1" and 200 pounds, according to the police department Facebook page.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Long Hill Township Police Department at (908) 647-1800.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/01/16/david-bird-missing-new-jersey/4504019/