ANGELINA COUNTY — The Texas Department of Public Safety is seeking help from the public to solve the disappearance of Lufkin native, Harold William "Bill" Roland, a man missing since 1997.
According to DPS, the reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for Roland's disappearance has been increased to $6,000.
In a release, the department also noted they routinely offer a $3,000 reward for information leading to an arrest on all cases on the Texas Rangers’ Unsolved Homicides website.
Authorities said that Roland lived in Lufkin and owned a lake house in San Augustine County.
He was last seen in the area on July 21, 1997, after telling someone he planned on going fishing.
Roland's wife reported him missing the next morning, and his pickup truck, pontoon boat and boat trailer were also gone.
Over the next three months, authorities found Roland’s pickup truck in a rural part of Angelina County.
His boat trailer was found abandoned in a National Forest in the same county, and his pontoon boat was found hidden under willow trees on Lake Sam Rayburn.
The pontoons on the boat had been shot, possibly to try to sink the craft.
Despite searching extensively and conducting several interviews, authorities have not found Roland, and investigators suspect that he was killed.
