A Guyton man who was reported missing on Sunday has been arrested for driving through three states without insurance and avoiding authorities’ attempts to find out if he was okay.
Douglas Lee Morris, 42, left a typewritten letter indicating his life was in jeopardy, according to Effingham County Sheriff’s Office spokesman David Ehsanipoor.
“Since he traveled through three states, multiple law enforcement agencies helped search for him because they were concerned for a potential life-threatening situation,” Ehsanipoor said today.
Effingham County investigators eventually discovered that Morris knew about the search for him and knowingly hindered the investigation.
Ehsanipoor said it isn’t against the law to run away of your own free will. “With the information we were provided, we could not rule out foul play,” he said.
Morris admitted he knew about the search.
“We don’t put a dollar figure on people’s safety,” Sheriff Jimmy McDuffie said. “But he knew we were looking for him. He let us spend thousands of dollars of taxpayers’ money knowing he was OK.”
Morris had driven to South Carolina and North Carolina before returning to Georgia. He did not answer text messages from authorities who asked him to let them know if he was safe, Ehsanipoor said.
Morris returned to a relative’s house in the Bloomingdale area Tuesday. “Someone else called us and said, ‘He’s back,’” Ehsanipoor said.
Morris told deputies that he was joking when he wrote the letter. Morris said he was fine and appeared fine when deputies spoke with him Tuesday, Ehsanipoor said.
“He didn’t seem to be taking it seriously at all,” Ehsanipoor said. “If there’s some problem we didn’t recognize and he gets appropriate help, that’s all we care about.”
Morris was released on bond today from the Effingham County jail. He was charged with driving with no insurance and obstruction of law enforcement by hindering an investigation.