Police still searching for missing man

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November 12, 2009

By HEATHER PYLES, Staff Writer The Commonwealth Journal Thu Nov 12, 2009, 05:43 PM EST

Somerset — No new information is available in the search for a Science Hill man who disappeared earlier this week — but investigators are using all avenues available to turn up any evidence of the 21-year-old.

“We have interviewed several acquaintances trying to pinpoint who the last person was who saw or spoke to him,” said Lt. Brett Whitaker with the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department, who is involved with the investigation, in an e-mail to the Commonwealth Journal. “We have been conducting interviews with co-workers and supervisors at his work.”

Jeffrey K. Price II left his workplace at Eagle Hardwood after his shift ended at 3:30 p.m. on Monday. After not returning home that evening, Price’s concerned family members contacted the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department to report his absence. None of his family has heard from him or seen him after he left work at the above time.

Price reportedly lived at 6955 North U.S. 27 in Science Hill.

That evening, the situation grew more disturbing. Sheriff’s units and the Science Hill Fire Department responded to a report of a vehicle fire at 8:40 p.m. Monday, located at West Racetrack Road near the former Outdoorsman Club just north of Somerset.

The vehicle on fire was a 2001 Dodge Dakota pick-up truck, and it was later discovered that it belonged to Price.

“Today, we have been working with the Somerset Fire Investigation Team in examining the burned vehicle,” Whitaker said on Thursday in the e-mail.

A search of the area by the sheriff’s department and the Pulaski County Rescue Squad turned up no sign of Price, and on Wednesday search divers with the Pulaski County Rescue Squad combed a pond located near the area where Price’s vehicle was found — but no evidence of Price’s whereabouts were discovered.

Whitaker also said search dogs have been dispatched to comb any areas where Price may have gone.

“There are other areas we are working leads but disclosing that info could jeopardize the investigation,” Whitaker’s e-mail said.

At this time, Price is listed as a missing person, but the circumstances surrounding his disappearance and the fact that his vehicle has been found burned is cause for concern, stated the sheriff’s department. Anyone with information about Price’s location or of anyone he may have had contact with after leaving work on Monday is asked to contact the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department at (606) 678-5145.

Price is described as a white male, standing 5-foot-9 and weighing 150 pounds. He has blonde hair and hazel eyes. He was last seen wearing blue jeans, a “Tri-City” shirt with a gray thermal undershirt, and brown boots.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing by the Sheriff’s Department Criminal Investigation Division.

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Pulaski carries Girdler to win

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s primary election, it was impossible to miss the colorful signs dotting nearly every Pulaski roadway. The names in the race for the 15th State Senatorial District seat popped out: A.C. Donahue. Chris Girdler. Mark Polston.

Once citizens hit the ballots, however, the results mirrored the dimensions of the signs themselves: Chris Girdler stood the tallest.

Girdler, deputy district director for Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers, ran away with the votes inside Pulaski County’s borders, earning 3,926 votes for 62.05 percent of the total number cast.

That number more than doubled the next highest vote-getter, businessman Mark Polston, who raked in 1,624 votes for 25.67 percent.

However, Polston — who owns Classic Carpet, a home-flooring business located just off the southern 914 bypass — can claim a moral victory ... three of them, in fact. In all three counties in the district other than Pulaski — those being Adair, Casey, and Russell Counties — Polston actually edged out Girdler.

In Adair, Polston beat Girdler 629 to 394. In Casey County, it was 538 to 417, and in Russell, it was 1,862 to 1,038.

Polston said he just “couldn’t pull it out with the numbers” and that “the machine worked for” Girdler in Pulaski County.

“I think that was their strategy — I think they had a Pulaski County strategy all along,” said Polston. “They played the political game well.”

Polston said the difference between his and Girdler’s campaigns was that “mine was a very, very grass roots campaign,” he said. “I did not have a political machine behind me. I understand how this process works, and in this instance, he prevailed.”

As for why Girdler didn’t take three of four counties, the winning candidate — since there are no Democrats in the race, winning the Republican primary was effectively a final victory for Girdler — said he didn’t have an answer for that.

However, “I believe things happen for a reason and I hope the long and strenuous campaign will only heighten my desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past,” said Girdler.

“Regionalism is a goal of mine, and I look forward to helping all four counties,” he added, noting that he campaigned heavily in each of them.

Sen. Vernie McGaha, the long-time state senator whose seat the candidates were vying for, actually supported Polston after Liberty’s Todd Hoskins dropped out of the race earlier this month.

Donahue, a local attorney, got 556 votes in Pulaski County, 8.79 percent of the vote. He only received 145 votes in Russell County, 74 in Adair County, and 75 in Casey County, where hometown candidate Hoskins almost matched him with 71 votes despite no longer being officially in the race.

Polston said he’s “still digesting” what happened, and though “the process has been a very good experience for me,” he wouldn’t commit to running again in the future. “I wouldn’t shut the door to anything, but I’m not opening any doors either.”

Still, “I think I got a lot of people involved in the process that had not been involved before and would not have been otherwise,” he said. “A lot of people got out and worked really hard, got motivated to talk to friends and neighbors. I think a lot of people became involved through this campaign that are going to be involved for a long time.”

Girdler stressed his “positive message” and said that Rogers is a “mentor and good friend” that he would turn to for advice in dealing with a frequently combative legislative body in Frankfort, one for which Girdler hopes to help change the culture.

Girdler said that he was “confident and optimistic” during the day Tuesday because he’d “worked extremely hard.” Nevertheless, the realization that he’d won gave him “chill bumps,” he said.

“I’m absolutely honored,” said Girdler. “The position of state senator is more than an honor, more than an office. It’s a charge to keep, and I will give it my all.

“I pledge to be the people’s state senator,” he added. “I look forward to working with everyone to move this region forward.”

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