Published: December 31, 2007 12:55 am      

Area rescue teams search for missing man

Dive and dog teams suspended their search Sunday afternoon for a northern Illinois man whose abandoned vehicle was found Friday evening at Camp Lakewood in northwest Effingham.

Searchers from the Effingham County Dive-Rescue Team and the Effingham County K-9 Search and Rescue Team stopped looking for Joseph J. Faykuse Jr., 54, of Frankfort, at about 4 p.m. Sunday, dive team commander Terry Trueblood said.

Effingham police said Faykuse has not been heard from since his family reported him missing at about 3 a.m. Christmas Day.

The search began, police said, after the abandoned vehicle was reported at 7:39 p.m. Friday. A license plate check showed Faycuse as the owner and officers learned Faykuse was listed as a missing person by the Will County Sheriff’s department.

City police and the county K-9 rescue team began their search Friday with K-9 units, which found a track from the abandoned vehicle to the boat ramp at nearby Lake Pauline. Effingham police Det. Todd Ebbert said divers and dogs began searching the lake at about 7 a.m. Saturday.

Police said dive team members from Moultrie and Shelby counties assisted in the search. The Illinois State Police aviation unit also conducted an aerial search.

Trueblood said the search was complicated by a variety of factors, including the lack of a point in which Faykuse was last seen, no witnesses and no physical evidence.

“All that made it very challenging to conduct a search,” Trueblood said.

Trueblood said lake conditions further complicated the search.

“The water was about 39 degrees with depths of 30 feet,” he said. “The vegetation underwater is approximately 7 feet tall, heavy and thick.”

Trueblood said divers and dogs spot-searched the lake in boats both Saturday and Sunday after dogs found human scent on the lake. Dogs also searched the shore of the lake.

The American Red Cross, Culver’s and Martin’s IGA Plus provided refreshments for search participants, police said.

With no sign of the missing person by Sunday afternoon, Ebbert said police planned to continue the probe into Faykuse’s disappearance. Those with information on the matter are encouraged to call Effingham city police at 217-347-0774.

Bill Grimes can be reached at 217-347-7151 ext. 132 or bill.grimes@effinghamdailynews.com.