WILMINGTON, MASS. (WHDH) - State Police search teams are standing down after a 54-year-old man from Billerica was reported missing, sparking an extensive search effort in Wilmington after a crash earlier in the day was connected with the case.
A State Police spokesperson said the man was “alive and well” after he was first reported missing just before noon on Tuesday, when his family reached out to troopers at the MSP barracks in Andover after he apparently did not return home following a shift at work.
Authorities soon connected the individual with an accident reported around 12:45 a.m., on I-93 North, past Exit 35 in Wilmington.
The crash had involved the man’s vehicle, a 2013 Acura TSX, which had been traveling on the road when it allegedly hit a tractor-trailer truck parked in the breakdown lane.
An investigation at the time found the Acura had hit the back of the truck’s trailer, with the car’s driver missing from the scene, according to the spokesperson. Meanwhile, the 55-year-old truck driver told authorities he was unaware his trailer had been struck at all.
After the Acura driver’s family reported him missing later in the morning, State Police patrols and numerous other units, including K9 teams, a Drone Unit and Dive Team, headed to what was once the scene of the crash and fanned through the area.
Authorities also checked with local hospitals before learning from the driver’s family that he had contacted them around 7:25 p.m., and that they were making arrangements to bring him home.
State Police said no further information on the case would be released Tuesday night, though the spokesperson noted that troopers are still looking into just where the driver ended up going following the initial crash.
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Original article posted at 6:39 p.m., Sept. 27
A search for a missing person has authorities looking through an area by I-93 North in Wilmington, according to officials.
A Massachusetts State Police spokesperson told 7NEWS that troopers, an MSP K9 and a State Police Marine Unit with watercraft have been operating in the Wilmington area after the search began around noon. The MSP Air Wing was also called in.
According to officials, around 11:45 a.m., troopers at the State Police barracks in Andover received a report of a missing 54-year-old man, who apparently never returned home after the end of his shift.
Additional details on the subject have not yet been released.
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