Family Searching For Missing Man From Crown Point
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Family and friends desperate for answers about a missing father from Crown Point, Indiana, have continued their search, nearly a week after he vanished.
Michael Hernandez went to a bar with a friend Friday night. No one has heard from him since.
On Thursday, friends, family, police, and the community of Crown Point combed the Lake County Fairgrounds, to search around Roselawn, Indiana, one of the last locations pinged by his cell phone.
Volunteers have organized several grassroots searches, but Thursday's was by far the largest, with about 100 people taking part.
"We know something happened to him, and we hope that we can find at least a lead that's going to lead us to him," said his uncle, Oscar Ortega.
Hernandez, 24, was last seen Friday night, enjoying the Blackhawks game at Safe House Bar and Grill in Crown Point. He called his mother at 11:30 p.m. that night to say he would be home soon, and drove off in his 2008 Scion, but has not been seen since.
Friends and family, aided by police, collected supplies Thursday, before forming groups to fan out south of Crown Point, near the last location pinged by his phone.
His friend, Don Gentry, called Hernandez an "amazing person."
"Michael was actually a manager at my restaurant for four years," Gentry said. "I know something bad's wrong, I just know it."
Hernandez reportedly was a top-performing car salesman and responsible father of twin daughters, whose disappearance doesn't add up. His family has set up a gofundme page to finance a missing person's campaign that includes brightly colored banners posted throughout the area; signs for hope as the search goes on.
"As part of the family, and a leader in the community, it's overwhelming. I've got to be honest, it is just overwhelming to see the support," said his father-in-law, Jay Callaway.