wfn.org | Car Belonging to Missing Presbyterian Elder Found

[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

Reply-To: wfn-news list <wfn-news@wfn.org>
March-19-1999 
99114 
 
    Police Say Car Abandoned in Parking Lot 
    Belonged to Missing Presbyterian Elder 
 
    by Alexa Smith 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A car owned by a missing Presbyterian elder was found 
this week nearly 170 miles from where he was last seen. 
 
    Police said there was no evidence of foul play. 
 
    Elder Harry Swarts, 51, a longtime member of St. Andrew Presbyterian 
Church in Davenport, Iowa, was last seen early in the morning of March 6, 
when he left his home after telling his wife that he had found a buyer for 
the 1991 Mazda Protege. 
 
    The car was found in a parking lot of a large shopping mall on the 
north side of Des Moines, about 170 miles west of Davenport. It had been 
sitting in the lot for several days, surrounded by piled-up snow. 
 
      The car was reported vandalized on March 13. The Des Moines Police 
Department said its windshield was broken. 
 
    "There was no evidence to indicate a struggle or some type of 
confrontation," said Dennis Kern, public information officer for the 
Davenport Police Department. "There was nothing found on or in the car that 
would lead to that type of conclusion." 
 
    A national search for Swarts is under way. 
 
    Kern told the Presbyterian News Service there is no evidence that 
Swarts was abducted. "At this point, we're still considering all the 
possibilities," he said. "His disappearance may have been against his will, 
and, just as likely, of his own volition." 
 
    A poster campaign to find Swarts was coordinated by members of St. 
Andrew, where he was ordained as an elder in 1976. Swarts also sang in the 
choir and was chairman of the church's Corporate Affairs Committee. 
 
    "This is a tremendous pastoral-care issue for the congregation," said 
the Rev. Jim Clark, the pastor of St. Andrew for more than 20 years. "It 
could be that he has fallen upon evil people ... and was hurt by them, and 
that is tragic. It could be that he just took off ... and that is tragic, 
too. 
 
    "It is a painful time for this small parish and for the community." 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  This note sent by PCUSA NEWS
  to the wfn-news list <wfn-news@wfn.org>.
  Send unsubscribe requests to wfn-news-request@wfn.org