William L. Howell Jr., 81, vanished on March 5, 2009 after he was last seen at the Bel Aire Recreation Center in Bel Aire, Kansas. He is described as a white male, 5 feet 8 inches, 140 pounds, with gray hair and brown eyes. At the time he was wearing a tan jacket, shirt, pants and white sneakers, and he used a cane because he walked with a limp from a recent hip injury. Distinguishing features include a scar on his chest from heart surgery and a broken ring finger on his left hand.

Howell had diabetes and dementia and required medication, which makes his disappearance especially concerning. He was fluent in Spanish and sometimes spent time with the Hispanic community. He often hitchhiked from Bel Aire to northeast Wichita and then rode the city bus downtown to the 900 block of North Topeka to visit friends; overnight trips were not unusual but he had never previously been gone for an extended period. Investigators have classified him as endangered missing and the Bel Aire Police Department is the investigating agency. Few investigative details have been released and the case remains unresolved.

If anyone saw William around Bel Aire or northeast Wichita in early March 2009 or has information about his movements, please share what is known.