Father seeks missing son
By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor
The Highlander
The father of a man missing since September 2015 told The Highlander his only wish is to find out what has happened to his son.
“We just want our son home,” said John Johnson Sr. “We just want our son home. It's hard (to go through this), but we want him home. Whatever we have to do to do that, we are willing to walk through that.
“We don't know where else to turn now except the media. Maybe someone will know something. Someone is bound to know something. It is just a matter of coming into contact with them.”
John Michael Johnson Jr., a lifelong resident of Burnet County with ties to Marble Falls and Spicewood, has not been in contact with any of his loved ones in nearly two years and there has been no word of his whereabouts since he was last seen in Cotulla in La Salle County.
His father reported him missing to the La Salle County Sheriff's Department on Nov. 5, 2015, two months after he last made contact with anyone.
“It's like after Sept. 4, 2015, poof, he vanished,” the elder Johnson said. “He has always maintained calling his two daughters, who live out of town. He would always send them a birthday card, and he sent his youngest daughter a card in August 2015, but he didn't send his oldest a birthday card that September. He loves them dearly and it is not like him to not call somebody.”
John Johnson Sr. said his son, who had been employed as an oilfield worker, was working for Diamond X Contracting in Johnson City and had been on a job in Cotulla.
“Diamond X Contracting still has a paycheck that he hasn't picked up yet,” John Johnson Sr. said. “If he had gone to work for anyone else, he would have a paycheck and the state would garnish his wages for child support, but for the last year and several months, there has been no child support taken out of any paycheck.
“His lawyer is in Burnet and I have contacted them on several occasions. They have heard nothing from him or from the state. He also got a DWI in Llano County in 2015 and had a bonding company that bonded him out and they also have heard nothing from him.”
In one of his last social media posts, John Johnson Jr. indicated he was fond of a “hoppin’ li’l bar in Cotulla” that he described as his “home away from home” and where he drank Corona beer with salt and lime.
John Johnson Sr. said his son, who was born Dec. 7, 1978, in Austin, is not involved in any gang and has no history of mental illness. The younger Johnson, who would be 38 now, also is not listed as a wanted fugitive, according to the La Salle County Sheriff's Office. He was last arrested in July 2015 on a failure to appear in court on his drunk-driving citation and was released from the La Salle County Jail on a $3,500 bond on July 24, 2015.
“Since his release in July last year, we have no record of him staying in La Salle County, and we do not know whether he left, either,” Sheriff’s Captain Joey Garcia has said. “We have him in the system as a missing person.
“When his family members decided to file a missing person report, they made that report here in La Salle County because this was the last place where Mr. Johnson was known to have lived and worked.”
John Johnson Sr. said there was a lead in the case, but “it did not pan out.”
“The whole family is very upset and we fear the worst,” John Johnson Sr. said.”It has been so long with nothing that we just don't know where to turn.”
Johnson is listed as being 5-foot-6, weighing approximately 180 pounds, with blue eyes, brown hair, a light complexion and favoring a goatee beard. Photographs indicate he has a gap between his upper front teeth.
His father said he has a tattoo resembling barbed wire on one of his arms. His son was last known to be driving a green or teal blue Ford Mustang but there is “no telling what he is driving if he is still driving.” John Johnson Jr. has a driver's license issued out of Kansas.
He was last seen wearing a black shirt, blue jeans, brown boots and a brown cap. At the time of his release from the La Salle County Jail, he was reported as being in possession of checks worth at least $1,200.
Anyone with information regarding John Michael Johnson Jr.’s whereabouts or who may have information regarding Johnson’s departure from La Salle County, place of work or travel destination, should contact the Sheriff’s Office at 830-879-3044.
