Missing man is subject of search

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 17, 1999

By Devlyn Brooks

Koochiching County Sheriff's officials spent Friday searching for a missing St. Paul man but had no success, according to Koochiching County Sheriff's dispatcher Gary Loop.

John Patrick Morrissey, 63, of St. Paul, was discovered to be missing early Wednesday morning by a Koochiching County Sheriff's deputy, Loop said.

He added that Minnesota Search and Rescue, an agency that does tracking with dogs, might be called in to search the area today.

According to Loop, Morrissey was last spotted early Wednesday morning two miles south of Margie on U.S. Highway 71 -- or about 40 miles northeast of Blackduck.

The deputy had been dispatched to check on Morrissey when residents in the area reported that the man was sitting suspiciously in his car on the side of the road.

When the deputy arrived, Morrissey allegedly refused any assistance. The officer returned a couple hours later, and the St. Paul man was gone.

Loop said Morrissey had left all his personal belongings and two dogs in the car.

Koochiching County deputies searched the area on foot on Thursday but found no evidence of Morrissey's whereabouts. On Friday, an airplane search also produced nothing.

Loop said it is not known whether Morrissey knows anyone in the Margie and Big Falls areas said they did not know him.

"Hopefully, someone picked him up and gave him a ride," Loop said.

Anyone with information regarding Morrissey's whereabouts may contact the Koochiching Counyt Sheriff's Office at (888) 340-4416.