This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A South Salt Lake man who came to Utah in 2005 after being displaced from his New Orleans home by Hurricane Katrina has been missing since October, police say.
Curtis Crosby is a 60-year-old black male, 5 foot 9 and 200 pounds with brown eyes and a balding shaved head. He possibly has a black and gray mustache-goatee.
Crosby was listed as missing in December by his daughter, who lives in Louisiana, after he failed to make his routine holiday contacts with out-of-state family members, according to a news release by South Salt Lake police. The daughter came to Utah last weekend and searched homeless shelters and hospitals in the Salt Lake City area but did not locate her father.
His last known contact was in October with Unified Police Department officers who were called to an unoccupied office building at 3449 S. 700 East in the Millcreek area after the manager found him camping there, the release says.
The release says the manager called the next day to report that Crosby had left his belongings behind. Unified police officers collected the belongings and left them at his apartment at 188 E. Helm Ave.
Police say they do not know why Crosby would camp out in an office building when he had his own apartment five blocks away.
"There are no known mental or medical conditions that would cause Curtis Crosby to change his normal routine and lose touch with his family," the release says.
Hundreds of Hurricane Katrina evacuees were brought to Utah in early September 2005 and housed at a shelter set up at Camp Williams. Crosby was one of the first to arrive, on Sept. 3
"I love it here. The only thing between Utahns and Hawaiians is you all don't have leis. But you all [have] been gracious and welcoming," Crosby told The Tribune in September 2005. "But I have to go back and see what's left, look for my two missing dogs and make sure my friends are OK."
Crosby, who ended up settling in Utah, was homeless for a time in 2008 due, in part, to a change in the agency that handled his housing assistance, according to an article in Salt Lake Street News, a nonprofit newspaper. With the help of the Salt Lake City Mission, he was able to straighten out the problem and get back into an apartment, the article said.
Anyone with information on Crosby or his whereabouts is asked to call South Salt Lake police dispatch at 801-840-4000. All calls are confidential and callers can remain anonymous.
Twitter: @PamelaMansonSLC