Kevin Lataille knew his wife was going to fret about the weather.
That’s why the Smithfield, Pa., man called her, after clocking out from his shift at the Patteson Drive Eat’n Park at 12:15 p.m. Sunday.
It’s about a half-hour commute on a good day.
This day, however, with its snow, iced-up roads and a wall of gray on the other side of his windshield, was anything but.
“He said, ‘Hey, I’m leaving,’” Lisa Ross-Lataille remembered.
His plan was to travel W.Va. 705 and Pa. 43.
With all that weather, he called again, once he got going.
The roads were bad, he said, but he was making progress.
He informed his wife that he just spotted the Lakeview Golf Resort and Spa sign and that he was taking it slow.
“He said the roads were ‘extremely bad.’ I told him to be careful and do what he had to do,” she said.
That was at 12:30 p.m. – and he didn’t call after that.
Nor did she see his bronze Hyundai Tucson, with its black-and-blue flag plate on the front bumper and distinctive memorial sticker on its side window churning up their road.
At 3 p.m. Thursday, she was parked by her phone and social media, hoping to hear something – anything – from the Pennsylvania State Police.
She was hoping to hear something – anything – from the legions of friends and other good Samaritans patrolling area roads on foot or by car.
The sub-freezing temperatures at night since Sunday have been particularly worrisome, she said, especially if, say, he had slid into a ravine, or got stuck otherwise and tried to walk in the elements.
“It’s like he disappeared,” she said.
Meanwhile, police and others have also been deploying drones in their search, with Monongalia County authorities expected to do the same – once it gets a little warmer.
The idea is to take in a swath from Pierpont Road to 705 and 43, and anywhere else he may have traveled, along with drone-passes down around the Ices Ferry bridge.
If you see something, she asks that you call 911 or Pennsylvania State Police at 724-439-7111.
She appreciates the family members keeping high-tech vigil and the friends out there looking, in extreme conditions.
“I’m grateful,” she said. “To everyone.”
