Hunt yields no clues for missing man

From staff reports
Published: October 2, 2008

Searchers have had no luck finding the 50-year-old Staunton man who went missing Monday in Shenandoah National Park.

They have not found the man nor any significant clues to his whereabouts, National Park Service spokeswoman Karen Beck-Herzog said Thursday.

Earl Funk has been missing since about 1 p.m. Monday. He has brown hair and green eyes, stands 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs about 145 pounds. He was last seen wearing dark pants and a light-colored shirt.

Funk and a friend had gone out Monday looking for ginseng root in the Cedar Mountain area of the Shenandoah National Park. He was driving an ATV, and dropped off the friend before going onward with his search.

The friend later found the ATV but not Funk. So he and a group of friends searched into Monday night and then again Tuesday morning before contacting the Albemarle County Police Department.

If Funk was not found Thursday, the search will continue today, Beck-Herzog said. Searchers were scheduled to look for Funk until nightfall.

The National Park Service and the Albemarle Sheriff’s Office are heading the search. Albemarle police, a state police dog team, Dog’s East, Blue and Gray Search and Rescue Dogs, Greene County Sheriff’s Office and Appalachian Search and Rescue are assisting.

Anyone with information is asked to call the national park at (800) 732-0911.