Have you seen this man? Morrisville police say he’s still missing 11 days after crash

A 56-year-old man remains missing more than a week after police say he crashed his car in Morrisville, and friends and family are searching to find him.

Dale Wheeler crashed on Church Street near Interstate 540 on Nov. 12, according to the Morrisville Police Department.

He has not been seen or heard from since, officials said.

Officers found the keys inside his 2019 Hyundai Tucson, along with “a little bit of blood ... on the interior of the vehicle,” said Wil Glenn, a police spokesperson.

The windshield was cracked in way consistent with “a blunt strike,” Glenn said.

Denise Spinelli, a friend of Wheeler, thinks he hit his head against the windshield after crashing into a utility trailer.

The crash occurred just four miles from his home, she added.

Police are still processing the car for DNA and could not confirm whether the blood was Wheeler’s.

They have not yet determined whether foul play was involved, Glenn said.

Spinelli first realized Wheeler was missing on Nov. 16, when she couldn’t reach him to set up their next tennis match.

She asked around and learned he had been reported missing after failing to show up for work two days in a row. Wheeler works information technology in Durham, she said.

Since then, Spinelli has been helping organize search parties. Around two dozen people showed up to help, she said.

“I searched for him all day Wednesday, and Thursday met with his brother and his niece who drove down from Columbus, (Ohio),” she said. “And then we did a community search on Saturday, and we’re going to go out again on Friday.”

Spinelli said she went to the parking lots of Harris Teeter and Wegmans, handing out flyers to people passing by.

“I’m just kind of a bulldog,” she said. “He’s my friend, and I care about him, and I want him to be found, whatever condition that might be.”

Spinelli worries Wheeler may have suffered severe head trauma and wandered into the woods while disoriented.

“Maybe he didn’t even know who he was,” she said. “He didn’t make any calls after the accident. None that any of us know of.”

Investigators have asked anyone with information about Wheeler’s disappearance to call 919-463-1650.

Spinelli hopes people who live alone see from her friend’s disappearance the importance of checking in with others regularly.

“Because anything can happen. You can fall in your house,” she said. “If you’re not checking with somebody every day, how is anybody going to know that you’re hurt?”

This story was originally published November 23, 2021 at 4:31 PM.