Search continues for Manchester veteran, missing since 2007

The trail of a missing veteran from Manchester has grown cold since 2007, but township police are gamely reheating it.

William Schmidbauer, 64 at the time he vanished, lived in Cedar Glen West after a 20-year Army career, police said.

His disappearance was not considered unusual because he left no note behind, and did leave his medicaitons, COPD inhaler, vehicle and keys, clothes and money, police said.

Schmidbauer is described as Caucasian, 6'2" in height, 170 pounds, with graying brown hair and hazel eyes. He was said to have chain-smoked and wore upper dentures, police said.

Searches involving airborne teams, tracking dogs, scuba crews and land coverage by foot bore no fruit, but two more searches were launched in the past several months.

The first was in May, spurred by a sighting of a man possibly resembling Schmidbauer's description near woods adjoining Cross Street in Lakewood, police said.

At Schmidbauer's family's request, township detectives retraced the woods around his home with help from New Jersey Search and Rescue and cadaver dogs, fanning out through the territory bordered by Routes 547 and 571 and Mallard Street.

Neither search met with success, police said. Anyone with information that can advance the investigation can enter it anonymously through the Tip Line portal at the Manchester police web page, or contact Detective Guker, 732-657-2009, ext. 4210