Michael Edwards, 44, Missing [FOUND DECEASED] Ridgecrest, CA

[Faith]

California authorities search for missing McKinney man
03:41 PM CDT on Friday, April 25, 2008

By ANDREW McLEMORE / The Dallas Morning News

California authorities are searching for a missing McKinney man who last called his wife and daughter about two weeks ago.

A missing person report has been filed for Michael Edwards, 44, who was believed to be traveling from Ridgecrest, Calif., to Sacramento, according to the Kern County sheriff's office.

Mr. Edwards, who had been a nurse supervisor in Dallas, left McKinney on April 8 to travel to temporary hospital job in California.

He last called his wife, Lisa, and 8-year-old daughter, Gracie, at 1:47 p.m. April 13 and told them he was going to begin driving to Sacramento early the next morning, said Stephanie Pesano, his sister-in-law.

He also took out $100 from an ATM and bought $43 in gas with his debit card, based on the family's checks of bank records.

The family filed a missing person's report on April 15, she said.

Mrs. Edwards traveled to California two days later and police began to search by foot, car and helicopter, but they have not located Mr. Edwards' vehicle.

"We haven't come up with anything at all," Kern County sheriff's Sgt. Ed Komin said.

Ms. Pesano said the family has heard that the route Mr. Edwards planned to take is "pretty precarious."

"I think their [police] main objective is to find his car," she said.

http://www.dallasnews.com (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/042508dnmetmissingnurse.9c567742.html)

[Faith]

HELP FIND MIKE

Mike Edwards Missing Person Blog

http://lh6.ggpht.com/stephanie.pesano/SBCsyDH5dQI/AAAAAAAAALY/mRW5JFD15WM/s288/100_0739.JPG

http://helpfindmike.blogspot.com/

[Faith]

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll116/helpfindthemissing/IMG00032-1.jpg
Mike March 2008

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll116/helpfindthemissing/DSC_0010.jpg
Mike and brother in law Easter 2008

[packy]

I wonder how precarious it is. It looked like he could have gone a little south and then swing north on a highway 99, if I read a map right. It looked like it could be a main route.

Hope they find him soon.

[Nut44x4]

Body of missing Calif. man found near Canyon
Apr. 25, 2008 05:22 PM

FLAGSTAFF - The body of a traveling nurse who was reported missing after leaving a California desert town nearly two weeks ago has been found in a remote area of northern Arizona, authorities said Friday.

The body of Michael Edwards was found near a Forest Service road north of the Grand Canyon on Thursday afternoon, said Lt. Rex Gilliland of the Coconino County Sheriff's Office.

Gilliland said Edwards, of McKinney, Texas, was found wearing only his underwear. His clothes were found scattered in the area, and his vehicle and camping spot were found about two miles away.

"We believe we have a natural death," Gilliland said. "He may have died from hypothermia. Obviously we'll know more after the autopsy and we still want to know why he was in northern Arizona."

Victims of hypothermia can become delusional and begin to think they are warm when they are in fact cold, Gilliland said. There was no sign of foul play.

Edwards, 44, was working as a traveling registered nurse in Ridgecrest, Calif., and called his family in Texas on April 13 to tell them he was headed to Sacramento to get a nursing certificate.

His family reported him missing to the Kern County Sheriff's Department two days later.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/04/25/20080425body-found0425-ON.html

[packy]

:1222423:

[Faith]

Edwards' body found in Arizona

:1222423::1222423::1222423:

[Faith]

Missing man died from freezing, coroner says

Published: Thursday, May 22, 2008 11:21 PM CDT

A Texas man who arrived in Ridgecrest in April and then disappeared before turning up dead in northern Arizona, died of hypothermia by suicide, according to the Coconino County Medical Examiner's Office.

Michael Edwards, a traveling nurse from McKinney, Texas, had temporarily relocated to Ridgecrest on April 10 with plans to begin working at Ridgecrest Regional Hospital the week of April 14. On April 24, Edwards' underwear-clad body was found by a surveyor from the U.S. Forest Service by a road north of the Grand Canyon near Jacob Lake. His clothes were found scattered in the area, and his vehicle and camping spot were found about two miles away, said Lt. Rex Gilliland with the CCSO.

What appears to be a suicide note to Edwards' family was found inside his car on a “keyboard word processor,” said Gilliland.

But what was Edwards doing in Arizona?

“We still have no idea,” said Gilliland. “I think that will be the unresolved question.”

Edwards had taken a job with Trustaff, a placement agency for nurses and traveling nurse agency out of Cincinnati, Ohio. On April 10, Edwards checked into the Rick Court Apartments off of South Norma Street that Trustaff had arranged for him to live in. Before beginning work at RRH, Edwards first had to travel to Sacramento to get his California Nursing license.

On Sunday, April 13, Edwards called his wife, Lisa, notifying her of his travel plans. Edwards planned to run a few errands and get some rest before leaving at 2:30 a.m. on April 14 for Sacramento.

“As of Sunday, 3:00, 3:15, he vanished,” said Lisa.

The last call Edwards made on his cell phone was to Lisa at 1:47 p.m. on the 13th. At 2:56 p.m., Edwards withdrew $100 from Bank of America. At 3:15 p.m., he used his charge card at Wal-Mart and also got $43.00 in gas - the last purchase he made.

The Ridgecrest Police Department checked his apartment, but his car was gone though his suitcase, clothes and mountain bikes were still there.


http://www.ridgecrestca.com/articles/2008/05/22/news/news01.txt