Missing Charlottesville man a ‘big mystery’
A family member of a Charlottesville man reported missing since Wednesday said it’s a “big mystery” as to why he disappeared from his vacation home at Wintergreen Resort.
Investigators, who still consider 45-year-old Michael Comer a missing person, don’t suspect foul play.
“There’s no evidence that there was a crime committed,” Nelson County Sheriff David Brooks said Friday. “There’s no evidence to lead us to believe there was foul play involved.”
Jeff Gaffney, Comer’s brother-in-law, said that family members had been trying to contact Comer after he left work Wednesday morning but couldn’t get in touch. Gaffney said that was a red flag, because Comer frequently checks in with his wife and two children.
Acting on a hunch, Gaffney decided to go to a house Comer owns in Wintergreen, in case the outdoorsman and frequent hiker decided to go for a midday hike.
Comer’s vehicle was found near his Wintergreen house with the doors unlocked and the keys inside, Gaffney said.
“It’s a big mystery,” he said. “We have absolutely no idea what’s happened to him.”
Search teams, including the Virginia Department of Emergency Manage-ment, converged on the resort community Thursday to comb 30 miles of
hiking trails and several thousand surrounding acres in an effort to find Comer, whose wife reported him missing around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
A spokesperson for Winter-green Resort said the search for Comer was called off late Thursday and did not resume on Friday. Officials have said they would consider investigating other “areas and avenues” that may be connected to Comer’s disappearance.
Gaffney said that Wintergreen police and the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office are pursuing a lot of leads and “looking at other potential scenarios other than just taking a hike.”
What exactly those other scenarios are is something police “haven’t fully explained,” Gaffney said.
Gaffney said that Comer didn’t have any enemies, and he doesn’t know if Comer — whom he called a devoted family man — may have left town.
“We’re looking at every possibility,” Gaffney said. “You have to look at every scenario, but we have nothing that leads us to believe that.”
Colleagues last saw Comer wearing khaki pants and a buttoned-down long-sleeved white shirt, Gaffney said.
Comer is president of Glenmore County Club, a privately owned club east of Shadwell, and is project manager for Glenmore Associates, the developer of the Glenmore community and other commercial projects, according to Glenmore Country Club’s Web site.
Justin Faulconer of the Lynchburg News and Advance contributed to this story.
Reader Reactions
Truly, the kind of budget that Glenmore has is not enough to “escape” on. It has been widely reported that there’s no specific evidence of large sums of missing money. Unfortunately, it seems that the man’s biggest reason to run is embarrassment… and for that reason, I think they shouldn’t give up the search in the woods.
exactly…he probably left a trail of 100 dollar bills leading up to a secret mountain of gold where a lamborghini sits on top. He, of course, is sitting in a king’s throne which is placed on top of the lambo.
I feel badly for his family, especially his children. However, this just doesn’t pass the smell test. His wife and business associates have no idea why he went to his Wintergreen house. Vehicle in the drive, house unlocked, keys and cell phone inside, and no sign of him at Wintergreen. Sheriff’s office says no indication of “foul play”. It sounds like an intentional disappearing act to me. Now why would he do that? I’m sure the police are pondering that same question.
Yes, I am a cynical one as well, and my first thought was to make some kind of snappy remark about Argenitina or embezzlement. But in light of the fact that this man has been missing for several days now and his family must be frantic with worry, I would hope that this all turns out OK for Mr Comer and his family; that this was all some kind of big misunderstanding and he shows up soon safe and sound.
Pete Deer
God knows I’m probably not the one to call somebody on the carpet for making questionable posts on a news article, but have we become so cynical that a missing person and his family need to be the butt of jokes made in astonishingly poor taste.
I guess some people just don’t have any “better angels” to help guide them. Bummer for them.
This must be heartbreaking for the Comer children and the rest of the family. I can’t imagine how frightening it must be to have your father or husband disappear. And then to hear flip and cruel remarks made rather than an offer to help…where is our kindness? My prayers are with them.
Anyone thought to look in Buenos Aires?
See where the money is missing.Then you will know what happen to him.Flew the coop!
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