Man missing in Koochiching Co. has a "history of mental illness"

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

July 21, 1999

By Devlyn Brooks

A St. Paul man, who has been missing for a week and was last seen in Koochiching County, was described Tuesday as having a "history of mental illness."

Koochiching County Sheriff Duane Nelson said nothing new has developed in the case of 62-year-old John Patrick Morrissey, who was last seen about 1 a.m. on July 14 by two Big Falls residents on state Highway 71, two miles south of Margie -- about 40 miles northeast of Blackduck.

"There is no new information," Nelson said Tuesday during a telephone interview.

A Koochiching County Sheriff's Department news release states further that Morrissey has a "history of mental illness and has not been taking his medication recently" and that he could be "despondent and possibly in an incoherent state of mind."

Although Nelson said they have found no new evidence, the news release speculates that Morrissey may have been picked up by a passing motorist and driven to either Bemidji or Grand Rapids.

Nelson said he is sending photos of Morrissey to newspapers and television stations with hope someone might recognize him, but Nelson did not detail future steps in the investigation.

"We are still looking for him," he said.

On Sunday, a Minnesota State Patrol airplane was used to search all the ditches and roads in the area, Nelson said, and a ground search was conducted Saturday. Other ground searches and a search by a tracking dog last week were also unsuccessful.

"It's such a big area we don't know where to look any more," Nelson said. "I just don't know what happened to this guy. The longer it goes it doesn't look good."

According to a Koochiching County dispatcher, a deputy first talked to Morrissey on July 13 when the officer stopped at Morrissey's broken down car on the side of the road south of Margie. The deputy offered to call for a tow truck, but Morrissey allegedly refused any help.

About 1 a.m. the next morning, on July 14 two elderly male Big Falls residents spotted Morrissey walking shirtless down the middle of the highway in the same vicinity as his car.

The men were scared and also feared they may have hit him, Nelson said.

When the men reached Big Falls -- about 12 miles up the road from Margie -- they reported that Morrissey was walking in the road to the Koochiching County Sheriff's office.

A deputy was dispatched to check on Morrissey, but when the deputy arrived Morrissey had already disappeared.

Nelson said that Morrissey left personal belongings -- including a wallet and two dogs -- in his car.

"His family said he would (never leave his dogs)," Nelson said.

A Koochiching County Sheriff's dispatcher said last week it is unknown whether Morrissey was visiting in the area, but residents of that area interviewed have said they don't know him.

Anyone with information regarding Morrissey's whereabouts may call the Koochiching County Sheriff's Office at (888) 340-4416 or (218) 283-4416.