The parents and friends of an airman missing more than two weeks from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson continued searching for him Saturday in outlying areas after plastering Anchorage with missing person fliers.
"That smile you see on the posters, that's him. That's what he wears most of the time. That's how he greets life," said Clinton Reeves' father, Terry Reeves. The missing airman's mother, Judy Davis, agreed.
Senior Airman Reeves, 24, was last seen April 19 and heard from on April 22, police said. Police found Reeves' rented red Dodge Avenger car unlocked in northeast Anchorage a few days later with his uniforms, some food and cases of Dr Pepper.
Reeves' parents said Saturday afternoon that they hadn't heard any updates from police on Reeves' whereabouts. Homicide and missing persons detectives looking for him offered no new details on the case.
The happy-go-lucky Reeves was driving the rental car because he was looking for a new vehicle to replace one recently totaled in a wreck. An insurance claim had just paid Reeves $4,000 or $5,000 and he'd been making calls to people advertising cars on Craigslist, said his father, Terry Reeves.
The elder Reeves arrived in Anchorage from Kansas a couple days after Judy Davis, the missing airman's mother, flew in from California. Reeves is both parents' only child and was named after Clint Eastwood, they said.
"My son's my confidant," Terry Reeves said. "I'm hurt. My son's gone. I'm angry, and I'm determined to find him."
Davis said volunteers taped up fliers in every part of Anchorage and were headed to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Local military personnel and complete strangers stepped forward to help in the search and help the family cope, Davis said.
"It just shows that people care, that there are kind people out there," she said. "People are concerned. That's a blessing."
One of those who has offered to help Reeves' family is James Koenig. Federal authorities say his daughter, 18-year-old Samantha Koenig, was abducted Feb. 1, killed and found in a frozen lake. The grisly discovery came after two months with no news of the abducted teen's whereabouts.
"You just have to keep hope," James Koenig told Reeves' parents Saturday. "Stay focused and don't let anybody change your focus. Stay sane. Don't go into that dark place."
Koenig said he was using money from a reward fund created to generate information in his daughter's case to help Reeves' family by paying for thousands of fliers and some of their room and board costs, if needed.
Anyone with information leading to Reeves' safe return would be compensated, Koenig said. Koenig would not give any specifics.
"It ain't about me. It ain't about the money. Right now it's about finding Clinton Reeves," Koenig said.
Victims for Justice has established a reward fund at First National Bank Alaska for information leading to Reeves' recovery and a cash reward up to $1,000 for tips that lead to the arrest of a felony crime suspect.
Police ask that anyone with information about Reeves' whereabouts or his red Dodge Avenger around the time he went missing call the Anchorage Police Department at 786-8900 or JBER security forces at 552-8550.
Reach Casey Grove at casey.grove@adn.com or 257-4589.
By CASEY GROVE
Anchorage Daily News