WTOC, Savannah, Georgia, news, weather and sports | Missing Soldier Reportedly Spotted in Statesboro
Member Center:
Robert HornbeckAt this time, investigators aren't sure that it was Hornbeck. The witnesses believe they saw him along I-16, but the sheriff's department has found no evidence to prove he was ever there.
A trucker first spotted someone matching Hornbeck's description around 7am yesterday morning near mile marker 137 on I-16. A little while later, someone spotted him near mile marker 132, the Ash Branch Church Road exit. Then about an hour later, he was seen near the Georgia 67 exit.
Fifteen officers started searching the area using helicopters and bloodhounds for at least eight hours but found no sign of Hornbeck or anyone matching his description.
"The hounds did not pick up a scent of Robert's," said Eric Hornbeck, Robert's father. "There's somebody out there, but they're still looking for that angel. But I haven't heard anything new."
One of the witnesses says she was on her way to work when she saw Hornbeck. Police met up with her at work and showed her a picture of the missing soldier. She identified him as the man she saw earlier that morning.
Since the police didn't find any footprints and the dogs found nothing, the family doesn't want to get their hopes up. Police are not sure that these people saw Robert Hornbeck, but they do say it is strange that all three people had the exact same story.
The family says they will take any leads they can get, because eventually the right one will come along.
The last person to see Robert Hornbeck was his friend Jeremy Stone, a fellow soldier based at Fort Benning. He wouldn't talk with us today, but we did speak with his company commander and a couple of other soldiers who know Hornbeck.
They don't want to speculate, but they are very concerned about their friend's safety. They say this has been quite a blow for everyone at Fort Benning and they just hope Hornbeck is still alive.
The soldiers spoke out about their feelings, why this is so hard for them to understand, and whether Hornbeck could be suffering from posttraumatic stress syndrome.
"There's not a man in the company who didn't love the guy," Sgt. David Van Engen said.
Sgt. Michael Scoutten described the situation as "a little confusing. Just because, obviously everyone was a little intoxicated, so no one knows really knows exactly for sure what happened. Then there's a phone call that kind of adds a little bit more mystery to the whole situation. And then for some reason, there's no videotape evidence, even though they were in the hotel."
"In all the questionnaires, whenever he was asked any question, there was never any type of indications that he was experiencing any posttraumatic stress syndrome," noted company commander Capt. Bobby Toon.
Hornbeck's friends say he was one of the most reliable guys in the company and say Hornbeck would never run from trouble.
Reported by: Christy Hutchings, chutchings@wtoc.com
