Police: Putnam County man, 46, missing

JSO: Man's car recovered in Whitehouse area over weekend

INTERLACHEN, Fla. – A 46-year-old Putnam County man has been missing since Friday, according to the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.

Floyd Anderson "Andy" Parrish disappeared from Interlachen Friday night, after friends said he went to meet a woman with a large amount of cash and a bunch of guns, according to a missing persons report.

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said Parrish's gray Ford Explorer was recovered around 1 a.m. Saturday in the Whitehouse area near U.S. 301. The car was reported as a suspicious vehicle by a resident on Clifford Thomas Lane off U.S. 90.

Parrish's family lives in Athens, Georgia, and the Putnam County Sheriff's Office and Athens police are investigating the disappearance. Neither department has said they suspect foul play, but Parrish's family and friends said the whole situation seems sinister.

According to a missing persons report filed with the Athens-Clarke County Police Department, Parrish works for the Florida Farm Bureau. He is described as a white man, about 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighing 170 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing a black motorcycle jacket, blue jeans and black tactical boots.

The report, filed by Parrish's brother, Charles Parrish, said that Andy Parrish left Athens on Friday about 10:30 a.m. to return home to Interlachen. Charles said Andy called him just before 6 p.m. to tell him he was in Gainesville, Florida.

"He got into Gainesville from I-75 and he called his brother. He said, 'I'm here, I'm safe and I'm heading home.' And normally, he would have gotten to his house and called him," said Barbara Sullivan, a cousin of Parrish.

But that call never came, Sullivan said. She and her friend Terry Krueger walked along County Road 315 Wednesday, talking to people in the area and posting fliers, hoping to help find Andy.

"Our family is trusting God with this," Sullivan said. "But we don't believe he is still alive."

The Putnam County Sheriff's Office has taken the lead in the case, and Putnam County detectives removed boxes of evidence from Andy Parrish's home on Lakeview Court on Wednesday.

According to the Athens missing persons report, Charles said he received a call about 4 p.m. Saturday from Krueger, who is a former roommate of Andy's, who told Charles that Andy was in trouble and had gone to meet a woman with the cash and guns.

"Andy had requested his guns to be sold because he needed money," Krueger explained to News4Jax. "But it was not communicated to me, from Andy, or any other source, what he needed the money for."

According to the report, Charles spoke to an officer with JSO who found Andy's SUV. Charles said the officer told him someone called in a suspicious vehicle, saying the driver had pulled up in the vehicle and left in a truck that also pulled up.

Charles said Andy's cellphone appears to be turned off, and he has not returned repeated calls, according to the report.

Charles also told the officer in the report that Andy does have a large collection of firearms, but that he did not believe Andy would sell them or have access to a large amount of cash.

The officer who took the missing persons report contacted the Gainesville Police Department in Florida and learned that Andy had arranged to sell his gun collection for $28,000, but it was believed that he had not yet received the money for the guns.

Investigators said to their knowledge, Andy has never been in trouble with the law, and his family said he's not one to simply walk away.

If anyone has any information concerning Andy Parrish or his whereabouts, please contact the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at 386-329-0801.  


About the Authors:

Ashley Harding joined the Channel 4 news team in March 2013. She reports for and anchors The Morning Show.