Hillsborough Detectives Involved in Search for Missing Soldier Jerry Beck

The helicopter heard in parts of Greater Brandon on Saturday, April 30, was the sound of a search underway for an Army soldier stationed at Fort Stewart, Ga., whose family reported him missing from the Tampa Bay area, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

As of  May 1 at 3:45 p.m., there were no further developments in the case. “Status quo,” said J.D. Callaway, a spokesperson for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

Reported missing is Army Specialist Jerry James Beck, 35, whose green Toyota Corolla was found on Interstate 75 beneath the Leroy Selmon Crosstown Expressway and tagged as abandoned April 27 by the Road Rangers of the Florida Department of Transportation.

Three days later the car was linked to the missing person report filed by Beck’s family last week with the police department in Hinesville, Ga., according to the Hillsborough report.

Upon notification of the vehicle’s missing owner, a search involving dogs and a helicopter got underway in “the later morning and early afternoon” of April 30, Callaway said.

According to the released report, there were no signs of foul play in the vehicle and the keys were left inside.

Hinesville police detective Al Cato, who is handling the case in Georgia, was not available for comment late Sunday afternoon.

According to a Bay News 9 report, Beck has lived in Tampa, where he has some friends, and his wife and children are in Naples, where family members live. His wife reportedly told Bay News 9 that she believes her husband suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from a recent tour in Iraq.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office at 813-247-8200. Or, the Hinesville Police Department at 912-368-8215.