Man’s disappearance a ‘big mystery’

CHARLOTTESVILLE — A family member of a Charlottesville man reported missing since Wednesday said it is a “big mystery” as to why he disappeared from his vacation home at Wintergreen Resort.

Investigators, who still consider 45-year-old Michael Comer a missing person, don’t suspect foul play.

“There’s no evidence that there was a crime committed,” Nelson County Sheriff David Brooks said Friday. “There’s no evidence to lead us to believe there was foul play involved.”

Jeff Gaffney, Comer’s brother-in-law, said that family members had been trying to contact Comer after he left work Wednesday morning but couldn’t get in touch. Gaffney said that was a red flag, because Comer frequently checks in with his wife and two children.

Acting on a hunch, Gaffney decided to go to a house Comer owns in Wintergreen, in case the outdoorsman and frequent hiker decided to go for a midday hike.

Comer’s vehicle was found near his Wintergreen house with the doors unlocked and the keys inside, Gaffney said.

“It’s a big mystery,” he said. “We have absolutely no idea what’s happened to him.”

Search teams, including the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, converged on the resort community Thursday to comb 30 miles of hiking trails and several thousand surrounding acres in an effort to find Comer, whose wife reported him missing around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

A spokesperson for Wintergreen Resort said the search for Comer was called off late Thursday and did not resume on Friday. Officials have said they would consider investigating other “areas and avenues” that may be connected to Comer’s disappearance.

Gaffney said that Wintergreen police and the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office are pursuing a lot of leads and “looking at other potential scenarios other than just taking a hike.”

What exactly those other scenarios are is something police “haven’t fully explained,” Gaffney said.

Gaffney said that Comer didn’t have any enemies, and he doesn’t know if Comer — whom he called a devoted family man — may have left town.

“We’re looking at every possibility,” Gaffney said. “You have to look at every scenario, but we have nothing that leads us to believe that.”

Colleagues last saw Comer wearing khaki pants and a buttoned-down long-sleeved white shirt, Gaffney said.

Comer is president of Glenmore County Club, a privately owned club east of Shadwell, and is project manager for Glenmore Associates, the developer of the Glenmore community and other commercial projects, according to Glenmore Country Club’s Web site.

Brandon Shulleeta is a staff writer for the Daily Progress in Charlottesville.

Justin Faulconer of the Lynchburg News and Advance contributed to this story.