Whatever happened to the search for Berkley resident Donald Flint?
BERKLEY — It's been more than six years since 48-year-old Donald Flint disappeared without a trace.
Flint, who is developmentally disabled, disappeared on June 8, 2017.
The search for Flint, 48, began after his mother, Nadine, reported him missing from her mobile home on Padelford Street in Berkley.
Former Police Chief Scott Labonte previously said Flint worked part-time at Home Depot in Taunton and was known to “wander off by himself occasionally, but never for so long or so far.”
According to police, Flint could not be tracked by officers because he did not have a cellphone or GPS wristband tracking device in his possession at the time of his disappearance.
What happened when Flint disappeared?
When Flint went missing the community and law enforcement officers from the surrounding communities mobilized to help find him.
Flint’s disappearance sparked an intense manhunt in 90-degree heat of a square-mile area, including swampy woods, behind his house and the nearby privately owned airfield.
Southeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (SEMLEC) divers and Taunton Police Sgt. Matthew McCaffrey also searched unsuccessfully for Flint in a pond near a farm on Myricks Street.
Flint was described at the time as a white man who is 5 feet, 10 inches tall, weighs 180 pounds and has brown eyes, very fine gray hair and prominent ears.
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Possible sightings in 2018
There was a report of possible sightings of Donald Flint in Gilford, New Hampshire, in February of 2018. Someone had called Berkley police saying they had twice seen a man resembling Flint at the Lowe’s store in Gilford, prompting Berkley police to reach out to Gilford police for help, the Gilford chief told the Taunton Daily Gazette at the time.
Gilford police posted "Have you seen Donald Flint?" on Facebook in hopes of helping track him down, but, unfortunately, despite the raised hopes, the report did not lead anywhere.
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Where does the case stand now?
Berkley Police Chief Christopher Baker said recently, unfortunately, the department doesn’t have any new leads in the case.
“Any new leads we would welcome from whatever sources we can get them,” he said. “We would follow up on them immediately, but at this time, we have no new leads we are currently following.”
Flint would say ‘Hi to everybody'
Berkley resident Ginny Starvish, 72, said recently many people knew Flint, and she became acquainted with him while visiting Star Drive-In on Myricks Street in East Taunton.
“Donald lives on the street that is the way to the Star Drive-In,” said Starvish, a registered nurse and co-founder of the non-profit Cancer Care Community Advisory Board in Raynham. “You could drive by Donald’s house, and he would sit on his tractor lawn mower and wave to everybody.”
Starvish said she would talk with Flint when he was buying ice cream at Star Drive-In.
“He is very friendly,” she said. “He’d say hi to everybody."
Starvish said she became acquainted with Flint’s mother, Nadine, and had some telephone conversations with her.
“It doesn’t seem possible he vanished into thin air,” she said.
Starvish said she hopes police will continue to investigate Flint’s disappearance.
If you have any information about Flint's whereabouts
Anyone with with any information about Flint’s possible whereabouts or why he is missing can call Berkley Police at 911 or the department’s business phone number, 508-822-7040.
Former Taunton Daily Gazette reporter Charles Winokoor contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Developmentally disabled Berkley man Donald Flint disappeared in 2017
