SALT LAKE CITY — The family and friends of 29-year-old August Beckwith have nothing but memories to think about while searching for him.
Family friend Caleigh Knight has been there since the beginning.
“My brother Reed was obviously best friends with him in high school. So, I grew up with August all the time. We lived right by each other,” said Knight.
“August actually suffered a traumatic brain injury back in high school when he was playing football as a running back,” Knight said. “He was laid up for two years and then that's kind of when things started to go bad.”
While life hasn’t been easy for Beckwith, Knight said he is always involved in his community.
“He did DoorDash and Uber. His mom said that he loved to give back to the homeless community as well, so he's constantly out on the streets giving back to the homeless community giving food and water to them,” she said.
On Monday, November 17, Beckwith went missing near the University of Utah, with no phone and no money.
“We need everybody to look on their doorbell cameras in the last 5 days,” said search party organizer Tricia Nelson, "we need them to check their yards. He might be hiding or scared. Obviously, he'll be cold and hungry.”
Beckwith is on the autism spectrum, nonverbal and is currently experiencing a mental health crisis, and it’s for this reason, the family is asking to not approach if you see him.
“With people on the autism spectrum, it's hard to know how they might react with somebody if they might approach them or if they would hide and not approach anyone,” Nelson said.
Police at the University of Utah told FOX 13 he is still missing but they are following every tip that comes in.
“As a parent of someone with autism myself, I just want to really thank anyone who's willing to give of their time or energy to help us find Augie and bring him home,” Nelson said.
“He was a big writer, and he was actually writing a couple of books before he went into the hospital before this, but August is a great guy and we really hope to bring him home,” Knight added.
He was last seen wearing a dark hoodie with a red shirt underneath, black pants and black shoes. If you see him do not approach but call 911 and keep an eye on him until authorities arrive.
The public is asked to reach out to Lori if he is seen at 801-232-5828 and the University of Utah police at 801-585-2677.
