A search effort has been scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday in unincorporated Crystal Lake for the 18-year-old man who went missing after jumping out of a moving car on Friday, his family said.
Aidan Beckford, 18, of Huntley, was last seen around 11:30 p.m. Friday in the area of Nish Road and Highview Drive in Nunda Township, which is east of Crystal Lake and south of McHenry, the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office said.
Beckford’s family told Lake and McHenry County Scanner that the public is encouraged to meet at 9 a.m. Monday at Nish Road and Highview Drive to help search the area.
“Anyone who can come is welcome. Please wear rain boots or waterproof shoes, jeans, long sleeve shirts because the area is muddy, wet and densely populated with brush and trees. Bring bug spray and water,” Jody Beckford, Aidan’s mother said.
“If you have a drone, it would be greatly appreciated so we can access areas that are difficult to get to. Also, please no dogs unless your dog is able to seriously track a scent. We are trying to have minimal contamination of the area in the event the police would need to search an area further. Also, if you own an ATV, it would be helpful,” his mother added.
The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office conducted searches of the area with drones and canines. A scent was followed by one of the search dogs into the wooded area where he went but it was lost once the woods got too dense, his family said.
Police also spoke to numerous neighbors in the area where the man was last seen.
He is described as being 5-foot-8, 160 pounds, with blue eyes, thick brown curly hair and wears glasses, which he was not wearing at the time he went missing.
Beckford’s step mother told Lake and McHenry County Scanner that he was in a vehicle with a family member when jumped out and walked away. He did not have his cellphone with him and left it at home.
Beckford’s father passed away three years ago and the area in Highview Estates where Beckford went missing is the last place their family lived, his step mother said, adding that the man is not in a good mental state.
Anyone who sees Beckford is asked to not approach him and instead call 911 or the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office at 815-338-2144.