Family Seeks Answers in Alabama Man’s Mysterious Disappearance

Family members are reacting to new details about the disappearance of an Alabama man more than a month ago.

Ronald Leslie Dumas Jr., 37, last spoke with a family member around 10 p.m. local time on Sunday, Dec. 15, according to a Thursday, Jan. 16, police statement shared by the city of Huntsville.

Police said security camera footage from the night of Dumas’ disappearance showed the man entered a liquor store on University Drive with two women just before 10:30 p.m. local time.

Dumas “was later seen leaving the store” with the same two women, and did not seem to be “under any distress at the time,” authorities added.

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The vehicle, described by police as a black 2021 Hyundai Palisade with Alabama license plate 47AUW1E, was found around 6:30 a.m. local time abandoned on the inside shoulder of Interstate 40 in Tennessee.

Shakeria Samples, the mother of Dumas’ son, believes “something is wrong,” according to CBS affiliate WHNT-TV.

“The traveling to Tennessee without notifying any family or friends, the abandoning of the vehicle on the side of the road, those things are just extremely abnormal,” she told the station.

Samples added, “He’s not going to abandon his kids. He’s got three kids they love and adore him, he wouldn’t walk away from them.”

Dumas was listed as a missing adult on the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s Missing Persons List on Monday, Dec. 23, police said.

Cell phone data showed Dumas’ phone was “heading south from Memphis, Tennessee on Dec. 21,” authorities added.

Dumas’ car has been searched multiple times, but police said none of the evidence found there indicates that Dumas was forcibly removed from the vehicle.

Police said in their statement that there is “no reason or evidence to suggest that Dumas is in danger or has been abducted at this time."

Samples insisted “this is not a mental health break,” and encouraged those with information about Dumas’ disappearance to come forward.

“We’re just looking for answers,” Samples said. “If you know anything that can assist authorities or the family with locating Ronny, we just want the truth.”

Nearly $9,000 has been raised through a GoFundMe campaign to help the family hire a private investigator.

“Ronnie went above and beyond for his family and friends. It’s our responsibility to return the favor,” Samples wrote in the online fundraiser's description.
Siniard Law, which is representing Dumas’ family, announced on Wednesday, Jan. 15, that the reward for information about Dumas’ disappearance had doubled to $10,000.

“Someone knows something,” the law firm stated on Facebook. “It’s time to come forward.”

Anyone with information about Dumas’ whereabouts is asked to contact Investigator Stephen Gibbs at 256-427-5448. Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling 256-532-7463, and information can be submitted to Huntsville Area Crimestoppers at 53-CRIME.