Police: Missing PGA Golfer's Dad Found in Texas

Image: Willard (Bill) Hurley Jr. (Leesburg Police Department)

A Leesburg man who disappeared on July 19, to the alarm of his family and friends, was located safe and sound on Friday afternoon in Texas, the town police announced.

After Willard (Bill) Hurley Jr., 61, left town in a pickup truck, his wife filed a missing persons report Monday with the Leesburg Police Department. And his son, Billy Hurley III, a PGA golfer, made a tearful appeal to his father on Tuesday at a news conference, imploring him to contact the family and asking the public for information on his whereabouts.

In a statement Friday, Lt. Jeffrey Dube, a Leesburg police spokesman, said that a person in Texas recognized the elder Hurley from media reports. The individual contacted local police, who responded and confirmed Hurley’s identity.

More on Patch: PGA Golfer Appeals To Public for Tips on His Missing Father

A TV station in Shreveport, La., reported Friday that a library employee in Clarksville, Texas, recognized Hurley from the TV station’s Facebook page on Thursday night and contacted the town’s police. Hurley had visited the library Thursday afternoon.

A Clarksville police officer told KSLA Channel 5 that she made contact with Hurley on Friday and found him to be “safe and sound.” Clarksville is in northeastern Texas, near the Red River.

A Leesburg police detective then contacted Hurley, who said “that he is fine physically and is simply travelling,” Dube stated. “Mr. Hurley did not wish to reveal the reasons behind his departure.”

The Leesburg police did not say whether Hurley has contacted his family.

Billy Hurley III is playing this week in the Quicken Loans National, a PGA tournament in Gainesville, Va., about 20 miles south of Leesburg. Tuesday’s news conference took place during practice rounds at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, the site of the tournament.

On Thursday afternoon, he tweeted that there was “nothing new” on his father and thanked family, friends and the PGA Tour for their support, KSLA reported. He had tweeted nothing more as of Friday afternoon.

The younger Hurley grew up in Leesburg, where his parents still live. The elder Hurley is a retired Prince William County police officer, WRC-TV Channel 4 reported.