LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — A Laurel County family is desperately searching for answers after 35-year-old Matthew McQueen went missing 12 days ago.
Joy Henry has had a rough week and a host of sleepless nights.
"It's just a burden that I can't explain,” said Henry.
She can’t deal with the not-knowing. Henry still hasn’t heard from her nephew McQueen, who is more like a son to her.
“He's had no contact whatsoever with the family, with the baby, with his mother…There's been no bank activity through his banking account,” said Henry.
She said McQueen recently got into drugs and had been spiraling down the wrong path.
“Matt never really got involved in that kind of activity until the last year or so and just a really hard road,” said Henry. “It just was getting worse and he ended up going to jail. And he just got out of jail.”
However, she says going missing without a trace is still out of his character.
"He never goes more than two or three days without coming home or at least contacting his mother or uncle and there's been nothing," said Henry.
The silence is killing her. Henry says although her nephew has a history with drugs, she’s begging the community to help bring him home.
“Even though he's a drug addict, I mean he's still a person. He's got a family. He's got a little boy and we love him. We just want to know that he's okay,” said Henry.
But a little doubt in her mind tells her he may not be okay.
McQueen is officially reported missing with the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office, but so far deputies say they have not gotten any leads.
The family is hanging on to the hope that the $1,000 reward for information they put up, will bring him home.
“We went out to where he lives. We looked all through the wood line out there and searched. There's a trailer, kind of like an abandoned trailer back behind their home. We've been in there. We really don't have a lot to go on,” said Henry. “Even if he's not okay, we need to know. We need something. I mean, I've got his baby. We just need to know, he misses his dad."
If you have any information, you can contact Deputy Greg Poynter with Sheriff’s Office at 606-864-6600.
