By Amanda Milkovits and Tatiana Pina
Providence Journal
GLOCESTER, R.I. –– By day’s end Tuesday, hundreds of searchers had combed through 1,000 acres of woods and brush since daybreak Sunday with no sign of a missing Glocester police officer.
Since Michael E. Hopton left his home in Glocester Saturday morning and failed to return, or to show up for work at midnight, state police have seized on all possible clues to his whereabouts.
They focused Tuesday on Wilbur Pond, a small secluded spot in the George Washington Management Area, after getting a tip that someone had recognized Hopton from a photo in Tuesday’s Providence Journal. That person told the police that someone resembling Hopton had been walking by the pond around 9:30 Saturday morning, said state police Lt. Darren Delaney. Several campers also told the police that they’d heard gunfire coming from Wilbur Pond on Saturday, Delaney said. He cautioned that it isn’t uncommon to hear gunshots in the management area, which is popular with hunters and target shooters.
Read full story: Searchers for missing Glocester police officer focus on area where gunfire heard