David and his family were living at Verbena, Alabama, south of Clanton, on Lake Miitchell. O. J. wanted to go down to visit and carry vegetables. I had plans for the day,so we separated about 8 am; he went to David's and I to my appointments . I returned home about 2:30 and began supper expecting him about 4:00. At 5:00 I wondered where O. J. was, but knew he enjoyed hanging around when the mussell divers came to shore to see their haul.
At 5:30 I called David and he said O. J. had been there but left about lunchtime. I called the family members concerned that there had been an accident. Calls went out to highway patrol, Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Dept., Bibb County, and towns along highway 82. There was no news.
When Missy's husband got in from work, he offered to travel the reverse route to see if the truck was off the highway disabled or abandoned in the rural counties along the way.
Telephones were being worked by family members while I kept my line open in case he called. The occasional quick reports from those calling were all negative. No one had seen him at service stations along the route. By 9:00 pm we were convinced that he had been hijacked or robbed and his truck taken.
At 11:00 as I stared at my last cup of coffee, I heard his truck in the driveway. When I opened the door, O. J. was sitting in his truck, crying like a baby. I went to him and helped him shaking and trembling into the house. After he sat down I called family to assure them he was safe.
When more than 8 law enforcement agencies in 5 counties, no one had noticed the little white Toyota pickup on the highway. We called off the search, thanking people for their concern.
When he had calmed, he explained to the circle of family faces, that he had missed the turn onto highway 82 at Maplesville, gone to Selma searching for a familiar scene, and saw a sign pointing to Montgomery. He thought if he could get to Montgomery, he could find his way home. We still could not account for the missing time. From that time on he never went out of the community without another person in the truck and I began to do most of the driving.
He became increasingly irritable, complaining about things he had never mentioned before. He did not want to go places alone and wanted me within sight or hearing. Each morning he wanted to ride, to see things, but did not want to be away from me in a store or large gathering. Our lives were shrinking and he began the ignore friends when they came over in favor of watching television. In weeks our lives would be changed forever!
