Family and friends of an injured Iraq war veteran who has been missing since Sunday fear that the 24-year-old is covering his tracks.
Courtney Birge said that if former Marine Eric W. Hall does not want rescuers to find him, they will not.
Hall's family spent Saturday printing fliers, driving around and talking to anyone who may have seen him.
"He's a Marine," said Birge, who is married to Hall's cousin, Adam Birge. "He knows how to survive off the land and find food. We don't feel he is dead. We want him back with us."
The family is planning a search party today and is asking for help from anyone interested in helping them. The group will gather at 8 a.m. at Gilchrist Park, 400 W. Retta Esplanade, Punta Gorda.
The family is asking anyone with all-terrain vehicles, heavy-duty trucks, dogs, a helicopter or any other search aids, for help. They said people with military experience can also help with tracking and understanding a Marine's thought process.
Hall disappeared from another cousin's Deep Creek home last Sunday. He had recently stopped taking his pain medication for a serious leg injury he suffered in Fallujah, Iraq, three years ago when an explosive device nearly blew off his leg.
He has pins, rods and plates in his leg, Adam Birge said. Hall walks with a limp.
Since his injury, Hall has been fighting with the military for $4,700 in vacation pay. The Department of Veterans Affairs rated Hall as only partially disabled, which limits him to $700 a month instead of $2,500 in full disability pay.
Relatives believe he is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. They say that before he disappeared, Hall was using his hand like a gun to shoot at imaginary people.
Birge said that before Hall went missing he also played the video game "Call of Duty." The family said the game may have triggered some unpleasant war memories. Hall's best friend was killed in the same battle in which Hall's leg was injured. He was nearby when the friend was decapitated.
"He just got up and said he had to go," Courtney Birge said about the day Hall disappeared. "He's a son, a grandson, a cousin and a brother. We are not going to stop until we get him home."
Charlotte County sheriff's officials found Hall's motorcycle last Sunday at Sulstone Drive and Pasadena Terrace. Birge said neighbors heard a man yelling in the woods near that area, and there was also a fire in the woods behind their home, which they believe Hall started. They found a Marlboro Light cigarette butt near the fire and said Hall smokes that brand.
Searchers plan today to cover wooded areas in Port Charlotte, DeSoto County, North Port and Arcadia. The search will continue until evening.
