Couple moving from Florida to Galveston missing for 10 days

Couple last seen asking for directions, sheriff says

MONT BELVIEU, Texas – Authorities said they are looking for a Florida couple who was last seen in Winnie last week.

Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne said Janice Kenny, 63, and Jimmy Weavel, 66, of Fort Meyers, Florida, were last seen the morning of Aug. 2. They stopped at Jack’s Grocery, at the intersection of state Highways 124 and 65, where they asked for directions to Galveston.

Kenny’s son, Craig Machlowski said his mother and Weavel were coming to temporarily stay with him while they found a home in Galveston, but they never made it.

"I was very shocked and I was very happy. They said they were on their way and I said, 'OK great, I get to see my mom.' And all of sudden, I haven't seen her," Machlowski said.

They used the store's phone to call Machlowski in Galveston.

 

"10:47 was the last time I heard from her. Her boyfriend said 'OK, we're on our way in about hour 45, hour and a half' and all of sudden I'm still waiting. It’s unusual," Machlowski said.

 

He said they told him they were about an hour away from his home.

 

"I'm baffled. I'm shocked. I don't know. Maybe he talked to her about going somewhere else," Machlowski said. "I love her very much and I just want her back. I just want my mom back."

The store clerk said the couple looked lost.

"Yeah they were because they kept asking me 'is this Galveston?' and I said no, 'Galveston is that way,'" Carrie Gaspard said.

After getting directions, surveillance video showed them head towards the Galveston ferry, but then they make a U-turn and head back towards I-10 which could take them east or west.

Hawthorne said the couple was last seen driving a black 1993 Ford F-150 pickup, bearing Florida license plate number 8285IL. They were also towing a U-Haul trailer, bearing Florida license plate number GDI828.

"They do not have a cellphone which obviously makes it a little more difficult for law enforcement," Hawthorne said. "We can't rule out foul play, but at the same time, we have nothing to lead us to believe that there is foul play."

Today the Texas Department of Public Safety aircraft division helped investigators search areas the couple may have traveled.

The Chambers County Sheriff met with Tim Miller of Texas Equusearch today to help with the search. They said a law enforcement camera spotted the truck's license plate in Walker County around 2:34 p.m. on Aug. 3, one day after anyone had contact with them.

The sheriff said the Texas Department of Public Safety will continue to investigate the truck’s whereabouts as detectives in Chambers County work the missing person’s case.

The sheriff says his office has gotten many calls but none have proven helpful.

Anyone with information regarding the couple’s whereabouts was asked to call the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office at 409-267-2500.