CLAIBORNE COUNTY, Tenn. — A missing Claiborne County father was found dead Wednesday after a weeks-long search.
According to the Knox County Sheriff's Department in Kentucky, 86-year-old Curtis Mason was found dead Wednesday afternoon.
The Harrogate man had disappeared on Feb. 26, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation had issued a Silver Alert to find him.
Deputies said they searched for his vehicle, a 2004 Silver Pontiac Montana, to find him. They said it had been seen on multiple business cameras in Middlesboro and Pineville, Kentucky along KY-92.
Deputies found his body in his van along KY-1809 in the Goldens Creek area of Knox County, Kentucky after people riding in the area saw his van.
Mason's family said Monday they believed he was heading to a casino known as "The Mint" in Williamsburg, Kentucky. KY-1809 is a highway that splits off from KY-92 between Pineville and Williamsburg.
"While Knox County Lt. Sam Mullins is heading up the Kentucky portion of the investigation, Claiborne County Detectives and TBI are in charge of the Tennessee investigation. No foul play is suspected," KCSD said.
On Monday, Mason's daughters and one of his granddaughters gathered to share with WBIR their heartache.
They said Mason left without his bingo bag and never came back home.
"We have friends and family out looking for him on foot and in vehicles," Shreiva Shrout, one of his daughters, said.
Shrout moved in with him two years ago to take care of him.
"He has started showing signs of what we think is delirium, we were in the process of getting him checked by the doctor, they did do a CAT scan and didn't see anything," Shrout said.
On Feb. 26, Mason left his home in his van.
The concern began when it was getting late and it got darker. It was unusual for him, his daughters said.
"I thought in my mind, you know, he's going to go see if they're playing bingo. And so when I went back to the living room, I seen all his bingo stuff was there. So I'm like, well, he's made it to the golf course," Shrout said. "He was always a hard worker... raised his family. Him and my mother was married for 49 years."
Lori Zierden, his eldest daughter, said video footage showed him leaving Claiborne County.
At around 4 p.m. he was on Cumberland Avenue in Middlesboro around a vape and pawn shop. Some time later he was seen passing Middlesboro Middle and High Schools near New Wilson Lane. They thought he may have left for a casino in Williamsburg, Kentucky known as "The Mint."
"He was seen leaving the Cumberland Gap tunnel headed north on 25," Zierden said. "We don't know where he was headed. We are assuming to The Mint in Williamsburg."
Mason was last seen on Kentucky Highway 92 heading west near Ralph Fuson Road before deputies found his body.