State police say still no signs of missing Tom Drew

SALISBURY — The Connecticut State Police put to rest rumors this week that the body of Tom Drew had been found.Drew was a 91-year-old Salisbury resident who suffered from dementia. He was at home on July 21, 2007, with a caregiver named Catherine Paton who was filling in at that time for Drew’s regular caretaker, Mario Zecca. Paton called the police that night to report that Drew had wandered off and was missing.Drew was reportedly unable to walk at more than a shuffling pace. However, a thorough search of the area around his Ravine Ridge Road home near the Massachusetts border turned up no sign of him. The search was conducted by the Connecticut and Massachusetts state police and volunteer ambulance squad members and firefighters from area towns. Police K9 units were deployed as were helicopters and fixed-wing airplanes.Hospitals and morgues around the state were interviewed to see if someone had brought Drew in. Subsequent searches over the next four years turned up no sign of him, his remains or his clothing.Rumors began to spread around Salisbury this week that Drew’s body had at last been found. The rumors began after state police from Connecticut’s Western District Major Crime Squad did a search of a farm in Cornwall. One source said the farm belongs to the Hurlburt family, on Hautboy Hill Road. Connecticut State Police Spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance said Tuesday morning, May 17, that no signs of Drew were found during the search. “This is an open case and everytime we come across any possible lead or bit of information we follow it up,” Vance said.“There was some information that developed during an interview that warranted us to search specific areas.” He would not say who was interviewed and would not confirm the location of the farm.State police used all available technology for the search, he said, including K9 teams but “it came up empty.”“We would encourage anyone that has information to contact the state police at Troop B in North Canaan,” Vance said. “This is an open and active case.”