CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Michael Winn was last seen outside the Chesterfield Government Complex last December. He has not contacted his family since then – but his mother told 8News she won’t give up the search.
It’s tough right now for Joyce Thomas. She tells me tonight after months of searching she understands the odds are stacked against her finding her son again. But the fact that he hasn’t been found is what’s keeping her holding onto some hope everyday and staying persistent in her search.
“I miss everything about him,” said Thomas.
Joyce Thomas’s phone rang this past weekend and when she picked up, Chesterfield police were on the other end – telling her they found someone who could possibly be her son.
She told 8News they didn’t give her anymore details, leaving her increasingly anxious and with more questions than answers.
“It’s hope because if something has happened to him, I want to bring him home. So it’s just trying to balance those feelings out,” said Thomas.
Thomas has wrestled with those feelings for many months after seeing her son, 56-year-old Michael Winn, walking out of the chesterfield government complex in this surveillance video.
On the surveillance tape, Winn can be seen trying to use a pay phone – but the camera glitches and he abruptly disappears from view.
Winn had been arrested for a DWI while on his way home to Petersburg, and he was later released. This is the last image Thomas has of her son. His whereabouts are still unknown, but she remembers her last conversation with him vividly.
“He started drinking again so I kind of got peeved with him. We went for like two weeks then I tried to call him and all I could get was the answering machine,” said Thomas.
Chesterfield police say they are still looking for Winn and there have been no signs of foul play. Since his disappearance Thomas and her family have been posting and gathering help to find him. His family is now left without a son, grandfather, and father.
“When I lost him it’s like part of me is gone too because he was apart of me,” she said.
Winn is described as 5′ 8″ with brown hair and brown eyes. He weighs 150 lbs. and has a tattoo on his upper right arm. Winn also wears dentures but did not have them when he was last seen. He may have been wearing a black and orange flannel jacket.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Chesterfield Police.
