Family fears worst as man disappears without a trace

CHARLESTON -- Police and family members are searching for a Charleston man missing since Oct. 12.

Tony Woodworth, 35, was last seen about 4:30 p.m. Oct. 12 walking in Charleston, according to Charleston Department of Public Safety. Woodworth is 5-feet, 10-inches tall and weighs 160 pounds. He has brown hair, brown eyes and tattoos on both arms.

"He just disappeared," said Woodworth's sister, Teresa Woodworth. "... They say that he's out there partying, but my brother didn't go nowhere."

Woodworth said she last talked to her brother around midnight Oct. 12.

Since his disappearance there have been several rumors about her brother's whereabouts, Woodworth said. One of those is that someone has shot and hidden him, she said.

Annie Black said she last saw her son in the early evening Oct. 11.

"I don't know anything. All I know is I want my son home," Black said.

Like her daughter, Black doesn't think her son left town, she said.

"I think something's happened to my son. My son has never took off like this without calling me," said a choked up Black.

Before he went missing, Tony Woodworth had had just been released from house arrest, his sister said. "He wouldn't take off; he loves me and his mom too much," Teresa Woodworth said. "He's been in and out of prison all of his life so he wouldn't leave."

Woodworth said her brother spent time in prison for burglary.

Meanwhile, family members are putting up fliers throughout the area and are offering a $2,000 reward, Woodworth said.

"We would like the person responsible to come forward and bring him back," Teresa Woodworth said.

Black said the police have been searching for her son, but they have no leads. She believes there are people in the community who know what happened to her son.

"There's rumors ... bad ones," said Black, who began to cry. "...They know where my Tony's at. It's so cruel they won't talk. I just want to bring him home."

At press time, no further information was available from Charleston DPS. Anyone with information concerning Woodworth is asked to call the Charleston DPS at (573) 683-3737.