Thursday will be a month since a Rayville man went missing, but his relatives say they aren't giving up hope. Police are still searching, but they say it's not realistic he'll be found.
Joshua Berry's mother, Loni, spreads out photos of her son on his kitchen counter. One sticks out. It's a photo of the 35-year-old in a hospital room after donating his kidney to a friend.
"It meant a lot to Josh to be able to do that," says Loni Berry. She says that's the kind of man her son is: generous. She also calls him outgoing and family-oriented. That's why she can't understand why he hasn't been home in nearly a month.
"It's not like him to not stay in touch," she says. "He called all the time."
Berry's wife, Jessica, says he left home at 7 a.m. on September 13th and didn't say where he was going. No one has seen or heard from him since.
Jessica Berry says now she needs him most. She's expecting their third child in December, and their one-year wedding anniversary is next week. "There are so many things I need him for," she says. "That's been hard."
Cell phone records show Berry hasn't used his phone since the day he disappeared. The Richland Parish Sheriff says there've been several leads, but all turned up nothing.
It's beginning to wear on his deputies.
"They get hopeful and then that hope is doused," says Sheriff Lee Harnell. The sheriff says he's hoping Berry will be found alive.
"But realistically, the chances aren't good," he says. A missing person's case turns cold after 48 hours.
A day after Berry went missing, his car was found wrecked in Franklin Parish, but there was no sign of Berry and no blood stains or signs of a struggle.
Berry's family members say they just don't want people to stop searching. "I'm hoping they're not giving up on him, because I don't want to give up on him," says his mother.
Anyone with information on Joshua Berry's disappearance is urged to call the Richland Parish Sheriff's Office at 318-728-2071.
