RUSK COUNTY (KYTX) -- It's been two months since 58-year-old Jimmy Tidwell disappeared. Now his family is speaking out about the mystery surrounding Tidwell's story.
Off a rural road in southern Rusk County, the doors to a small cabin are locked. The chicken cage outside is empty. The weeds are fighting with the grass because no one has mowed in two months.
"He liked nature and he didn't want to be crowded by people," Tidwell's sister Lynn Akin said. "[Living out here] was his dream. And his dream was coming true a little bit at a time."
Akin said he's just not the kind of person to throw in the towel.
"I do not believe for one minute that he left this property of his own free will," Akin said.
The last time anyone saw Tidwell was February 15th. A few days later, sheriff's deputies found his truck abandoned on Farm to Market Road 95--five miles from Tidwell's home, and without a battery.
"The road that the truck was found on was a route that he traveled very frequently," Rusk County Sheriff's Department Sergeant Viki Penny said.
Crime stoppers is offering a $3,000 reward, with financial help from Akin, her husband and Tidwell's employer, Flanders Electric of Longview. In March they combed a six-mile radius around Tidwell's cabin and came up empty handed.
"Every phone call makes my heart kind of sink," Akin said. "If we could just find him. Open up your heart and your soul if you saw anything."
If you have any information, call the Rusk County CrimeStoppers at 903-655-8477.
