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Petition Asks Texas Rangers To Lead Chambers Investigation

Michael Chambers, 70, of Quinlan, has been missing since March 10.
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Michael Chambers, 70, of Quinlan, has been missing since March 10.

More than half a year after a 70-year-old Quinlan man went missing, an online petition seeking a change in the agency leading the investigation has been signed more than 3,000 times.

The petition was started by a Change.org user identifying itself as Friends of PaPaw, in Quinlan, and is titled “Bring PaPaw Home - Find Michael Chambers.” The text of the petition asks that the Texas Rangers take over the investigation from the Hunt County Sheriff’s Office. The petition says that its authors are not associated with the Chambers family.

Hunt County Sheriff Randy Meeks told the Greenville Herald-Banner last week that the Texas Rangers and federal authorities have been involved in the investigation since it began.

“The Texas Rangers as well as the FBI have been with us since the very start of the investigation,” Meeks said. “The FBI is not as active in the case at the moment, but they are just a call away if we need them. The Ranger, she is in the building with us and she is always briefed on what is going on.”

Chambers, a retired Dallas firefighter, was last seen on a surveillance camera at the Quinlan Walmart on the morning of March 10. The sheriff’s office was notified shortly before 7 p.m. March 10 of Chambers’ disappearance from his home in the 7000 block of FM 2101.

Law enforcement officers said they found a small amount of blood in a workshop at Chambers’ home, but officials said there were no signs of a struggle and it was unclear whether Chambers was injured and left the workshop on his own or was forcibly taken from the building.

The incident was highly publicized and several mass searches were conducted in the days following Chambers’ disappearance. The Chambers family has posted a $25,000 reward for information which leads to his safe return. Brantley Burns with Texas Farm Bureau Insurance is offering a similar $1,000 reward.

Chambers is described as six feet, three inches tall, weighing 225 pounds, balding with gray hair, and often wears a Dallas Fire Department T-shirt and ball cap.

Anyone with relevant information is asked to contact Sgt. Jeff Haines with the Hunt County Sheriff’s Office at 903-453-6809 or jhaines@huntcounty.net.

As of midday on Sept. 18, the petition had 3,398 supporters.

Mark Haslett has served at KETR since 2013. Since then, the station's news operation has enjoyed an increase in listener engagement and audience metrics, as well recognition in the Texas AP Broadcasters awards.