Sister of missing Starkville man speaks

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – The search continues for a missing Starkville resident.

31-year-old Cory Baughn was last seen leaving his apartment on Stark Road on November 12th.

He is believed to have been traveling east on Highway 82.

The Starkville Police Department and Baughn’s friends and family said they are concerned for his welfare.

Katie Hearn is Cory Baughn’s younger sister.

She said she has a close relationship with her brother, so when she didn’t hear from him for a few days, she began to worry.

“He never broke contact, even if we were arguing or something. That just wasn’t in his character at all,” said Hearn.

The Baughn family is originally from Lynn, Alabama, but Cory had just recently moved to Starkville for a job at Express Oil Change.

Hearn said her father was not expecting a visit from Cory on the 12th since it was in the middle of the week.

“Dad had understood on that Sunday conversation that Cory was just having a normal workweek. He didn’t mention anything about coming home to Dad’s,” said Hearn.

Cory’s white Nissan 350z is also missing.

Hearn, her father, and 85 volunteers scoured the area searching for any traces of the vehicle.

“If he’d run off of a roadway, we’d of seen him for sure that day. In previous days to Saturday, me and my dad had independently just went there and drove from daylight till dark just looking for him,” said Hearn.

“We’ve been getting assistance from a lot of agencies, both public and private. We’ve also had some state organizations doing some drone work and things like that,” said Sgt. Brandon Lovelady with the Starkville Police Department.

Hearn said the past few days have been painful, especially after unexpectedly losing her mother this past March.

“I just try not to think about the thought of losing my mom and my brother in the same year. I’ve had trouble sleeping and eating and all the things you’d expect, but I’m just not allowing myself to grieve yet because we don’t know what’s happened to Cory,” said Hearn.

If anyone has any information they are asked to contact the Starkville Police Department.

“We need to work together as a community to find Mr. Baughn, and hopefully this individual is safe,’ said Lovelady.

“If they’ve got anything that they even remotely think that was concerning that Cory may have verbally said, call the Starkville Police Department, please. Even something small may be a big lead and we don’t realize it at this point,” said Hearn.

Cory Baughn is 5’10” and weighs 165 pounds.

He has brown hair and brown eyes.

If you have any information, contact the Starkville Police Department at 662-323-4134.