Scope of Search Widens For Missing Long Hill Man

Multiple agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, state park police and law enforcement authorities from as far away as Bergen County, have been added to the search for David Bird, 55, a Long Hill township man missing for almost a week since he told his wife he wanted to go for a walk, the Morris County Prosecutor's Office announced on Friday afternoon. 

Acting Morris County Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp announces that a multi-agency search is continuing for David Bird, with the Long Hill Township Police Department continuing as lead agency in collecting any information on Bird.

Bird, born Sept. 9, 1958, is a reporter for the Wall Street Journal. There have been reports that his credit card had been used in Mexico. However, Long Hill police said earlier in the week, after a search of a railroad ravine nearby in Basking Ridge, that there were really no clues to go on in the sarch for Bird.

Bird was last seen at 4 p.m. last Saturday. Family members said he had told them he was going for a walk, but never returned. He is know to hike the trails at the nearby Hicks tract, at the end of Knollandale Road, in Long Hill, an area that authorities said has been searched and re-searched since last weekend.

Bird's address is 1839 Long Hill Road, Millington section of Long Hill, Long Hill police said.

Because Bird had a liver transplant nine years ago, all hospitals in the tri-state area have been contacted, Long Hill Police Lt. Ahmed Naga said early Tuesday evening.

So have police organizations and jails, since the effect of not taking medication may have been disorientation, Naga said. But he said there really is no guarantee how the sudden halt of the medication may have affected Bird, he noted.

Bird's description also is on a national police database, Naga added.

FBI involvement

The spokesperson for the FBI's Newark office, Barbara Woodruff, said of that agency's involvement with the investigation, "We are assisting Long Hill Township police on anything they feel we can assist them with."

Woodruff added the FBI can't pinpoint one area where the investigation will be focused, since, "We don't know how the investigation will unfold."

The following agencies are involved in the search, according to the Morris County Prosecutor's Office: Long Hill Township Police Department, Morris County Sheriff’s Office, Morris County Department of Law and Public Safety-Office of Emergency Management, New Jersey State Police, Morris County Park Police, Harding Township Police Department, Bernards Township Police Department, Warren Township Police Department, New Jersey State Park Police, Bergen County Sheriff’s Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Millington Fire Department, Stirling Fire Department, Warren Fire Department, Liberty Corner Fire Department, New Vernon Fire Department, Chatham Township Fire Department, New Providence Fire Department, Berkeley Heights Fire Department, Somerset County Department of Public Safety, Parsippany Search Rescue and Recovery, Whippany Swift Water, Boonton Dive Team, Pequannock Dive Team, Jefferson Dive Team, Picatinny Dive Team, U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife, United States Veterans Administration Police and Fire – Lyons, NJ, Long Hill First Aid Squad, Long Hill Township Office of Emergency Management, the Salvation Army, Long Hill Community Emergency Response Team Volunteers, and the Warren Township Community Emergency Response Team.

Call Long Hill police with any information

If anyone has any information regarding Bird’s whereabouts, they are asked to call the Long Hill Township Police Department at 908-647-1800, option 1, Extension 236.