Family members are reacting to fresh information regarding the disappearance of an Alabama man more than a month ago.
According to a Huntsville police statement on Thursday, January 16, Ronald Leslie Dumas Jr., 37, last spoke with a family member around 10 p.m. local time on Sunday, December 15.
Police claimed security camera footage from the night of Dumas’ disappearance showed him entering a liquor store on University Drive with two women just before 10:30 p.m. local time.
Dumas “was later seen leaving the store” with the same two women and did not appear to be “in any distress at the time,” investigators said.
At 6:30 a.m., police found the abandoned vehicle, a black 2021 Hyundai Palisade with the Alabama license plate 47AUW1E, on the inside shoulder of Interstate 40 in Tennessee.
Shakeria Samples, the mother of Dumas’ kid, believes “something is wrong,” according to CBS station WHNT-TV.
“The traveling to Tennessee without notifying any family or friends, the abandoning of the vehicle on the side of the road, those things are just extremely abnormal,” she told the station.
Samples added, “He’s not going to abandon his kids. He’s got three kids they love and adore him, he wouldn’t walk away from them.”
Authorities registered Dumas as a missing adult on the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s Missing Persons List on Monday, December 23.
Cell phone data showed Dumas’ phone was “heading south from Memphis, Tennessee, on Dec. 21,” according to officials.
Police have searched Dumas’ car multiple times, but none of the evidence they found indicates that they removed him forcibly.
According to the police statement, there is “no reason or evidence to suggest that Dumas is in danger or has been abducted at this time.”
Samples stressed, “This is not a mental health break,” and urged anyone with information about Dumas’ disappearance to come forward.
“We’re just looking for answers,” Samples said. “If you know anything that can assist authorities or the family with locating Ronny, we just want the truth.”
A GoFundMe campaign to help the family hire a private investigator has garnered nearly $9,000 so far.
“Ronnie went above and beyond for his family and friends. It’s our responsibility to return the favor,” Samples wrote in the online fundraiser’s description.
On Wednesday, Jan. 15, Siniard Law, representing Dumas’ family, announced a quadrupling of the prize to $10,000 for information about his disappearance.
“Someone knows something,” the law firm stated on Facebook. “It’s time to come forward.”
Anyone with information on Dumas’ whereabouts should contact Investigator Stephen Gibbs at 256-427-5448. You can also leave anonymous tips by calling 256-532-7463, or you can send information to Huntsville Area Crimestoppers at 53-CRIME.
