Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Please Help Find this Missing Man

My uncle, Gary Vance, went missing on Friday in the Birmingham area. If you have any information, please contact the local police. Below is a copy of the flier that is being posted locally.

MISSING!

URGENT MEDICAL ATTENTION NEEDED!!


REV. GARY VANCE

LAST SEEN WEARING: ORANGE POLO SHIRT

ON THE POCKET “VANCE HOMEBUILDERS INC.”

KHAKI PANTS & BLACK OPEN HEEL Z COIL SHOES

AGE 59 – HEIGHT 5’11” – WEIGHT 170LBS

DRIVING A DARK BLUE 2004 CHEVY TRAILBLAZER

He was in the Lincoln, AL area Friday morning. It is possible he was in or around Tuscaloosa on Friday afternoon.

Please call your local police with any information!

UPDATE: His Trailblazer has been found in Tuscaloosa, AL, but he is still missing.

UPDATE 2: see new info here

(I will be keeping this post on top until further notice)
Posting Update: I have decided to move the information about Uncle Gary to the sidebar. The post will still be available for comments but it will now float down the page as new posts are added to the blog.

FINAL UPDATE:  Gary has returned home to his family.  Thank you for your interest and concern.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

I use to go to Pastor Vance's church a few years ago and I heard about this through family and on the news. I have posted his information on my MySpace as well as a few message boards I am on. We are praying for your family and for Pastor Vance.

Jan said...

Thank you so much for your prayer and for helping to spread the word.

S said...

I will keep your family in my prayers.

Anonymous said...

Hey Jan,
I don't know if you remember me or not, but I attended Troy with you. I also study Political Science, and I have known your aunt and uncle most of my life. They are in my prayers and the prayers of my family, friends, and church. I know several of our friends have been helping in the search. Let me know if I can do anything!

Jan said...

Hey Andrea, yes I remember you. Right now it seems like there is very little we can do until the police get some credible leads. I know they have several volunteers willing to do searches if the police decide that an area needs to be searched. For right now, just keep praying for his safe return. Thank you so much.

Anonymous said...

Jan, Gary is my uncle also. My mother is Sharon, his sister. I am in the Houston area, but have been doing as much as I can via email/internet from here. We have sent the information to every news station/anchor/reporter, newspaper and radio station in the Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Mobile area that we can find an email address for and have had a few contacts from them. We are praying and anxiously waiting some good news. Terri Cooper pcterricooper@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

Update - the family just received word that Gary's truck has been found in Tuscaloosa. The truck was locked up and there is no sign of break-in or damage of any kind. Investigators will let Carolyn see the truck hopefully Monday after they have checked for any evidence to help find Gary.

Anonymous said...

Hi Jan,

I pastor Cornerstone Worship Center (formerly Adair Assembly of God) in Louisville, Kentucky. Brother Vance has often led us in revival meetings. In fact, I received my call to preach in one of his revival meetings. Please tell Carolyn that we send our love and that every since we recieved the news of Brothe Vance's disappearance, we have been in a state of continual prayer for both her and Brother Vance. We are very concerned but hoping/praying for good news. I thought about calling but I was afraid that she had already been inundated with phone calls.

Sincerely,

Pastor Kevin Putty

Anonymous said...

I have prayed for the family and Bro.Vance a number of times in the past week..." I will NEVER leave you..Jesus
From Pastor Larry and Debbie Trotter River of Life Ministries
Decatur,Alabama

Anonymous said...

I was Gary's assistant pastor in Phenix City, AL. I am brokenhearted. We are praying for everyone involved. Shirley and Ernie Paulk

Anonymous said...

I noticed on one of the news articles I either heard or read that the police would finish their investigation on the Trailblazer yesterday, Monday, and that Carolyn would then be allowed to see the vehicle. His trailblazer was seen on Fieldstown Road in Gardendale today, so I assume Carolyn now has it at home.

Jan said...

Yes, Carolyn does now have the Trailblazer back. She picked it up either yesterday or today.

Anonymous said...

RB said....If I could say to Gary, it would be Come home, come home, ye who are weary COME HOME. Family, friends and God are waiting with outstreched arms to welcome you.

Anonymous said...

I'm really worried about my friend Brother Vance. I can only imagine the emotional and/or physical suffering that he is facing at this very moment. I hope very soon that some how and some way, he will make it back home into the arms of his loving wife and family. Years ago Scoot Wesley Brown sang a song that said, "There is no problem so big God cannot solve it. There is no mountain so tall He cannot move it. There is no storm so dark God cannot calm it. There is no sorrow so deep, God cannot soothe it.

If He carried the weight of the world upon His shoulders.
I know, my brother, that He will carry you.

If He carried the weight of the world upon His shoulders.
I know, my sister, that He will carry you.

He said, Come unto Me all who are weary, and I will give you rest."

The song is beautiful and it is true that we have a Savior who carried the weight of the world's sins upon his shoulders; surely, He can carry you and me when we grow weary. There is no burden too heavy for our God and no problem which he cannot resolve.

Everyone in Louisville loves Brother Gary and the Vance family and we will never stop loving them. In the past, they have offered their support during the most difficult times in my life as well as many others within my congregation and now, it is my intention to stand by them.

Jan said...

Thank you so much for your words of inspiration and for your prayers. We will never give up hope.

Anonymous said...

Brother Vance was my Pastor for a few years about 14 or 15 years ago. I am now a full time evangelist. He is a great man of God as I know him and was a great pastor. I have been troubled deeply in my spirit since I heard about this. I will continue to pray for him daily, and will begin a fast.
Johnny Stallings thepreacher@charter.net

Karah said...

Did he ever come home?

Jan said...

Yes, he did.

Anonymous said...

So that's it????

"FINAL UPDATE: Gary has returned home to his family. Thank you for your interest and concern."

No info on why he left his poor wife and kids to go thru all of the pressures of financial hell and loose the house and etc and have to move the heavy furniture etc, just a simple "Gary has returned home to his family. Thank you for your interest and concern" and now lets forget about why he did it or why it put them thru pure hell on earth by doing this?????

Jan said...

I'm sure that in his mind there was a reason. Does that excuse it, not even a little bit. I wasn't given a good reason for why he left. I can't give what I don't have.