Emergency crews spent Thursday afternoon searching for a 57-year-old Rhodhiss man who’s been missing for two days.
Friends fear the worst for Ralph Edward Poarch, better known as “Red.”
“I’m afraid he’s dead – I’m really scared,” said Lennis Scott who had worked with Poarch at Buck’s Dollar Store in Granite Falls.
Poarch lives with his sister and nephew at 102 Powerhouse Lane on the shore of Lake Rhodhiss. He was last seen on Jan. 31 and he was reported missing by his nephew.
On Thursday, more than a dozen Caldwell County deputies and emergency crew members searched hillsides and fields near Poarch’s house while a pair of search and rescue boats scoured the lake for any sign of Poarch.
Scott drew a sign asking for information about Poarch’s whereabouts and hung it on the door of the discount store where he had worked sweeping floors and unloading trucks.
“When I worked with him, I felt safer than I did with anyone else,” said store clerk Leona Wilson. “He probably would’ve taken a bullet for any one of us.”
Poarch, a fixture in Granite Falls and Rhodhiss, was often seen riding his bicycle while pulling a lawnmower as he went from yard to yard mowing people’s grass.
“He was an odd duck, but he was a good duck,” Scott said. “He had a good heart – he really did.”
It is not known what Poarch was wearing when he left or if he may have left with someone. According to reports, family members said Poarch sometimes leaves the home without telling anyone but he usually returns within 24 hours.
He typically travels on a bicycle but the bike is at the home, according to a media release issued by Caldwell County.
Anyone with information about Poarch’s disappearance or whereabouts is asked to call the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office at 758-2324 or Crime Stoppers at 758-8300.
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