Still No Sign Of Wayne State Student Who Disappeared In Hometown; Searches Called Off
OTISVILLE, Mich. (WWJ/AP) - Investigators are stumped about the disappearance of a 27-year-old man who stepped outside of a bar in a small Michigan town late last month and didn't return.
Ken Gruno had a credit card with him, but he left his coat behind when he stepped outside of the Otisville Hotel Bar in Otisville, 70 miles north of Detroit, in the early hours of Dec. 27. That card hasn't been used since his disappearance, said Gruno's wife, Kelsea Etson.
"He was out at the bar with a group of friends from high school and then he was gone," Etson told WWJ's Sandra McNeill. "He came out for some fresh air and was talking to a friend outside, and they went inside to grab another friend because he [Gruno] wasn't talking all that coherently, and when they both came back outside he was gone."
Video from a nearby store security camera shows Gruno walking in the middle of Jefferson Avenue around 1 a.m., but has provided no other information.
"He's seen on video walking away from the (bar) under his own power. Then there's no trace," said Det. Sgt. David Van Singel of the Michigan State Police. "We have not had a single credible lead come in. We've had no developments."
Searchers have "walked most of the roadways in northeastern Genesee County, and we followed up on potential locations outside Genesee County," Van Singel said, adding that investigators have found no evidence of foul play.
Etson said organized searches have been called off and won't resume until investigators receive a solid tip.
"He wouldn't just take off. He's not like this," she said. "I just have a really bad feeling ... We're trying to remain hopeful but we have no idea where he could be, at all."
Gruno is described as a white male, 5'11" tall and about 175 lbs. with blue eyes, dirty-blonde hair and large sideburns. He was last seen wearing blue jeans, a gray flannel shirt with a vest and colorful bowtie, and slip-on work boots.
Anyone with information on Gruno's whereabouts is urged to contact police at 810-732-1111.
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