Family Searches for Missing Eureka Man as Christmas Nears
As children’s anticipation for Christmas morning grows, Michael Bounds’ grandchildren just want their grandpa home. Their mom, Michael’s daughter, Brenna Crawford, is coming to understand that her kids’ Christmas wish will likely go unanswered. There will be no Christmas miracles, no matter how much their hearts yearn for it.
Michael Bounds left his home in Eureka on November 27, pausing his Thanksgiving preparations to take a friend grocery shopping. He bid farewell to one of his daughters and his mother, promising to be back soon, his deviled eggs partially prepared for their families Thanksgiving plans the following day.
The family has not seen him since; that evening, Thanksgiving, and every day since, spent trying to locate him.
In the last three weeks, the family has pinpointed Michael’s last location to the Pine Hill area of Eureka the night before Thanksgiving. Surveillance footage showed the 60-year-old man leaving his friend’s Alpha Street apartment just before 6 p.m. that evening. According to his daughter, additional footage showed Michael turning right onto Myers Avenue. Two hours later, a home surveillance camera caught the missing man’s 2006 silver, Dodge Charger parking on Vance Avenue near the cross of Eureka Street. The vehicle was found three days later in the same location, unlocked, and with Bounds’ cell phone inside, Crawford explained. Unfortunately, the footage of the vehicle arriving at 8:05 p.m. on November 27, did not reveal who was behind the wheel of the vehicle, or which direction of travel they took after leaving the car.
No other surveillance footage has been obtained to Brenna’s knowledge.
With no additional clues, the worried daughter is left to believe that whatever transpired on the night of November 27 that prevented Michael Bounds from returning home to his family and his Thanksgiving plans, happened in the Pine Hills area.
The Eureka Police Department continues to investigate this missing person case, encouraging anyone with information regarding Michael Bounds’ whereabouts to reach out to law enforcement; no tip too small to phone in. Due to jurisdictional boundaries, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office has handled the search of the areas west of Myers Avenue, a large area of densely forested area, yet Michael Bounds has yet to be found.
As the days stretch to weeks since Michael left his home to help a friend, the wondering plagues his family. “It keeps me up at night — every night,” Brenna said.
During those sleepless nights, Brenna has gone over every possibility, including whether her dad could have just left somewhere and not come home. As much as she wants to believe he’s out there, alive, about to turn up at any moment, she says that doesn’t fit with who her dad is.
Michael Bounds’ is a fan of Copenhagen chew, not going without for more than half a day. His money burns a hole in his wallet, begging to be spent, and yet his money sits in his account, untouched since he last bought tobacco in Blue Lake earlier on November 27, the can of chew left at his home alongside all his future plans.
As a diabetic, he is dependent on insulin that also is at his home. A knee injury rules out a late-night walk in the woods. His unlocked car and abandoned cellphone do not point to a robbery. His absence a sure sign something went awry preventing the son, father, and grandfather from returning.
With more questions than answers, Brenna says she has no choice but to continue to search for her father and the truth of what happened to him that cold November night as the temperature dipped below 40 degrees. “I’ll never, ever give up till I have some answers,” she vowed.
So, she searches, both for her father, and for surveillance footage that will tell her where her father went between the time his car turned onto Myers Avenue just after 5:52 p.m. and when his car parked on Vance Avenue at 8:05 p.m., a mere two-minute drive away.
Additionally, search parties are being organized for this week with the next one scheduled for December 21st*, at the Herrick Avenue Park & Ride. Though the area was searched previously, Brenna plans to cover the area again to clear it off of her map of places in the area. “We’re gonna go back over it because we really have nothing,” she said, further explaining, “It’s the closest place in proximity that isn’t …residential, …and my dad has been known to go …down there.”
The family has created a Facebook group to keep the public informed about upcoming searches and to gather any leads. They ask that the group be shared widely to reach as many people as possible, engaging the entire community in the search for Michael, who is deeply missed.
From Michael’s 84-year-old mother, who is beside herself, to his thirteen grandchildren who struggle to understand his absence, the family remains in limbo wondering where he is. Though the hope of a Christmas miracle fades for the adults, the children hold onto the promise of happily ever after, “Mom, I’m just sure he’s at Disneyland, because he always wanted to take us to Disneyland,” one of his grandchildren told Brenna. Their innocent belief serves as a bittersweet reminder of the love and memories Michael shared with his family—love that fuels their unwavering determination to find him.
If you have any information regarding the whereabouts or disappearance of Michael Bounds, please contact the Eureka Police Department at 707-441-4060.
