Searches for missing man unsuccessful
Pioneer Staff Report
TENSTRIKE — Searches this week were unsuccessful for a missing man who called 911 Tuesday and indicated that he was suicidal, according to a news release from Beltrami County Sheriff Phil Hodapp.
Officers responding to the call, which came in at 1:38 p.m., located a car belonging to the caller, Darren Raymond Chock, in the woods about 5 miles south east of Tenstrike. Trackers followed a track made by Chock through the woods by until it disappeared on the snowmobile trail.
A thorough, large-scale search in the woods surrounding this area was conducted Tuesday and Wednesday by members of the Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff’s Posse, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Minnesota State Patrol, Minnesota State Patrol Helicopter, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, U.S. Border Patrol, Blackduck and Kelliher Fire Departments, North Country First Responders, Kelliher First Responders, Beltrami County Community Guard, Paul Bunyan Amateur Radio club, Beltrami County Environmental Services, Beltrami County GIS Department, other volunteers and family members.
Family members returned to the area Thursday and continued searching, and Sheriff’s Office members searched in the woods Friday. All these searches were unsuccessful.
The sheriff’s office has been pursuing leads generated from citizen callers that so far have not led to the location of Chock.
Chock is described as a 19-year-old white male, 5 feet 11 inches tall and 200 pounds, with brown collar-length hair. He was wearing a neon green T-shirt, black-and-white plaid shorts and flip-flop sandals.
Hodapp said that anyone who locates Chock should not approach him, but should instead call the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office at 333-9111 or 888-449-9111; call 911 in case of an emergency. He may be armed, Hodapp said.
