A 20-year-old Center Point man has not been seen since Oct. 31, and authorities are now asking the public for help finding him. Austin John Brown was last seen in the area of Cantebury Lane on Oct. 31, according to authorities, and has not surfaced since.
The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency are asking for help locating Brown, according to WBRC. He is described as 5 feet 7 inches tall and 180 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Officials said he was last seen wearing a green hoodie and black pants.
According to officials, Brown is believed to live with a condition that may impair his judgment. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office at 205-484-5793 or call 911.
A Familiar Pattern of Missing-Person Appeals in Jefferson County
Brown's case echoes other recent searches centered on Center Point and surrounding Jefferson County communities. A report published in October 2022 covered the sheriff's office's search for Kaleb Wilson, a 25-year-old Center Point man who had been missing since Oct. 15 and was described as 5 feet 10 inches tall and 125 pounds with brown hair and green eyes, according to cbs42.com. That case listed a different contact line, 205-325-5700, for tips.
Deputies also asked for the public's help locating Henry Thompson in a report published September 21, after he was last reportedly seen in the Hueytown area on August 29, as reported by abc3340.com. Thompson was described as approximately 6 feet tall and 175 pounds, with blond hair and blue eyes, and anyone with information on his whereabouts was asked to call a separate sheriff's office line, 205-325-1450.
Center Point Has Seen This Kind of Search Before
Center Point itself has been the backdrop for similar appeals in years past. In 2023, a missing and endangered person alert was issued for 62-year-old Lisa Smith Powell, who disappeared from the area, as detailed by al.com. Authorities said at the time that Powell may have been living with a condition that impaired her judgment and that she was last seen around 8 a.m. that Monday. Powell was described as 5 feet 7 inches tall and 200 pounds, with brown eyes and gray or partially gray hair, and the public was asked to call the sheriff's office or 911 with any information.
Alabama maintains several formal alert systems for missing people, including the Amber Alert, the Emergency Missing Child Alert, the Missing and Endangered Persons Alert, and the Blue Alert. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency has said the criteria for all but the Amber Alert are set by state statute.
For now, investigators are relying on the public to help fill in what happened after Brown was last seen near Cantebury Lane on Halloween. Anyone with information about his location is urged to reach out to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office or dial 911.
