One of Clarke County’s oldest unsolved mysteries is what happened to Ross Dyer of Montrose.

There’s not much information on the octogenarian who apparently disappeared after getting his car stuck in the mud, but there are a few brief articles from 1984 — over 40 years ago now.

Dyer, 86, was last seen leaving his home in the Montrose Community on April 15. According to a clipping from the Clarke County Tribute, his 1973 Chevrolet pickup was later found stuck in a rutted, muddy road. It appeared Dyer got out of his vehicle and began walking.

Searches of the area, including air searches by helicopters, by law enforcement and the national guard yielded no results. Sybil Lewis, a community columnist at the time said there were 100 searchers.

Lewis’ column was noteworthy, though, because Dyer’s disappearance was almost a footnote in the column, which was headlined, “Grandpa has been busy picking berries.” It was published May 10, almost a month after Dyer had gone missing.

“The search was a total failure,” Lewis wrote. “No one has any clue where Mr. Dyer is.”

And 40 years later, it still stands true.

At the time of his disappearance, Dyer had gray hair and blue eyes. He was just over 5’1″ tall and 150 lbs.

If you have any information on the disappearance of Mr. Ross Dyer, contact the Clarke County Sheriff’s Department at (601) 776-5252.