Authorities are looking for a blind man who went missing while traveling from the District to Alabama earlier this month.
Relatives of 33-year-old Mitchell M. Smith say they last heard from the Maryland resident on Dec. 16, when he boarded an Amtrak train at Union Station. He was supposed to travel to Birmingham, Ala., but got off the train in Charlotte and did not re-board, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police.
Police said Smith was last seen near the Charlotte train station. It wasn’t clear why he had left the train.
Madeline Smith, his grandmother, told WBTV in Charlotte that Smith had made the trip from Washington to Birmingham without any problems before and had no known connection to Charlotte.
“If he’s in Charlotte where he does not know anyone, I just know that he would call me,” Smith said.
Family members say Mitchell Smith didn’t have a cell phone but was carrying some cash. Smith told the television station that she believes her grandson left the train on his own, but relatives are still concerned.
“Because he has not contacted me, I feel that maybe he’s in trouble,” she said.
Smith is described as a black man who is 5-feet-11-inches tall and has brown eyes and black hair. He is legally blind in both eyes. He has a scar on his head near his right eye. Smith carries a red-and-white cane and sometimes wears dark glasses.
Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call Charlotte-Mecklenburg police at (704) 336-7600.
