BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

INEZ — A search for a missing Inez man is underway at the Curtis Crum Reservoir, where authorities on Friday deployed cadaver dogs and a dive team from Ashland to comb the waters.

By midafternoon, at about 2:40 p.m., divers had dropped anchors from their boat and were preparing to enter the water.

Martin County Sheriff John Kirk said the dogs alerted in one location early in the operation.

“These dogs are pretty accurate. Usually when they indicate, there’s something there,” he said. “The handler has extreme confidence in her dogs. She doesn’t second-guess them.”

The search began after the sheriff’s office received an anonymous tip.

“We have to take these tips seriously,” Kirk said.

With assistance from Emergency Management and Martin County 911, the sheriff’s office employed Penny Steffey of the Kentucky Search Dog Association to initiate the search around 9 a.m.

“The dive team has a big task before it,” the sheriff added. “We’ll try to do everything we can. If there is a body there we will do everything we can to recover it.”

The missing man, 59-year-old Jody Pauley, was last seen March 4 near 728 East Main Street in Inez. He is described as 6-foot-1, about 200 pounds, with blue eyes and brown hair.

Pauley’s family filed a missing person report April 23 prompting an investigation that included aerial drone searches but produced no leads. Two weeks ago, Kirk said he suspected foul play.

“The circumstances surrounding his disappearance raise troubling questions,” he said Sept. 8. “I believe some people know something but they aren’t saying anything. Someone said Jody had about $800 on him the day he disappeared.”

Kirk noted that Pauley was also expecting checks in the mail at the time of his disappearance, a detail that heightened concern.

Authorities are asking the public to stay clear of the reservoir to allow search crews to work safely.

This is a developing story.