Ricky Joe Brown, 60, of Malden, Missouri, vanished on the evening of June 27, 2019, after his home was struck by lightning that morning and damaged by fire. Distressed, he declined offers to stay with friends and family. Around 7:00 p.m. he stopped by a nearby friend’s house; the friend was not home and the friend’s wife says Brown made a confusing remark about his deceased father playing tricks on him. She urged him to go home.

About an hour later the friend and his wife checked Brown’s house and found him gone. His pickup was parked and unlocked; his hat, glasses, cigarettes, and essential medicines were inside. His cell phone sat on a chair on the front patio. No signs of a struggle were reported. Brown had mobility problems and was believed to be in the early stages of dementia, at times thinking he still lived in his childhood hometown of St. Louis.

The Malden Police Department investigated, but Brown has not been seen or heard from since that night. Did anyone in the Malden or St. Louis area see Ricky after June 27, 2019, or have information about his whereabouts?