The disappearance of Charles “Gary” Lightfoot, 82, and his wife, Linda Eppers Lightfoot, 81, captured widespread concern in Texas after the couple did not return home from a Thanksgiving visit with family. They were last seen on November 27 leaving Panhandle, Texas, for what should have been a familiar drive back to Lubbock.
When they did not arrive as expected, relatives contacted authorities, leading to a Silver Alert and a coordinated effort between multiple agencies to locate them. Investigators worked to trace the couple’s movements by identifying their silver Toyota Camry through license plate readers, which detected the vehicle near Groom, Texas, and later close to Santa Rosa, New Mexico.
