Dec. 20 – Friends and family continue to search for a Kila man who went missing in Kalispell last week.
Gregory James Wells, 69, was reported missing by his wife on December 11 after disappearing during a visit to Kalispell the day before.
On the afternoon of Dec. 10, Wells left his home in Kila to run some light errands in Kalispell before heading to the Gold Bar casino on West Montana Street, according to Mike Burke, a family friend who assisted in the search.
A bartender working at the casino that day recalled Wells looking fine. He gambled and had a few drinks, then told the bartender he was going home.
Burke said surveillance video captured Wells leaving the casino at 6:30 p.m. His vehicle was last reported traveling west on US 2 from Kalispell, according to Flathead County Sheriff Brian Heino.
Wells wore blue jeans, a gray polo shirt, a denim jacket, glasses and a brown/gray ponytail, tucked under a Second Amendment hat. Wells has a scar on his right hand, according to the missing person flyer distributed since his disappearance.
He was driving a slate blue 2000 Ford Explorer with factory roof racks and an AM 1050 sticker on the left rear bumper.
Wells’ wife reported him missing to the Sheriff’s Office the next day after he failed to return home.
Wells has never been missing before and, according to Burke, had no reason to leave and be out of contact.
Wells’ immediate family described him as old-fashioned. He doesn’t have a phone with him and usually pays in cash. Heino said Wells’ lack of a phone or vehicle connected to the OnStar network made tracking him more difficult.
The Sheriff’s Office, in conjunction with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, flew planes and drones, spoke with local businesses and inspected disturbances in water bodies in search of the vehicle.
“We are working on every possible lead,” Heino said.
Matt Wells, Gregory Wells’ son, called his father’s disappearance shocking.
“It looks like a movie, it’s a little surreal,” said Matt Wells, who lives in Washington and drove to Kalispell as quickly as he could.
Wells’ daughter, Joleen Rocks, also lives in Washington and flew to Kalispell to assist in the search.
“This isn’t something you think will ever happen to you,” she said.
Wells, according to his children, is a family man, an Air Force veteran and a light-hearted soul. Wells, the eldest of eight siblings, comes from a large family, with relatives visiting him regularly.
Rocks described her father as capable and self-sufficient.
“He can build or fix just about anything,” she said. Wells was a uniformed beam mechanic and also worked as a steelworker.
Matt Wells, who usually speaks with his father at least once a week, said the older man was feeling better after recovering from back surgery about two months ago.
Since Wells’ disappearance, his family and friends have been combing through the city in an attempt to find where his vehicle may have gone.
Rocks urged everyone in the area to keep their heads up, ask around and hand out missing persons flyers.
All tips and information regarding the Wells’ whereabouts should be directed to the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office.
Reporter Jack Underhill can be reached at 758-4407 and junderhill@dailyinterlake.com.
