Family members are organizing a new search for a missing 36-year-old Marine Corps veteran from Wisconsin who disappeared nearly two months ago in Point Washington State Forest.
- Bret Valona, an Iraq War veteran and avid outdoorsman, was last seen March 1 when family members dropped him off at the Eastern Lake Trailhead. He has not been in contact with anyone since the morning of March 2, and his phone has not worked since that time.
Valona was reported missing to the Walton County Sheriff’s Office by his sister after he failed to check in at an expected time.
“His family has some concern because he missed a checkpoint. His normal procedure is to reach out to them or touch base with them within a three-week time area,” according to the Walton County Sheriff’s Office.
The Walton County Sheriff’s Office, along with the Walton Correctional K-9 Team, conducted a search operation on March 30 in the area of the Eastern Lake Trailhead.
Family members said they later learned Valona had been experiencing suicidal thoughts and fear he may have harmed himself.
- Valona is known as a “primitive outdoorsman” who uses minimal equipment to camp and can survive off the land for up to three weeks at a time.
Deputies say they don’t believe he has a communication device with him.
“From what we’re understanding is that he tends to either sleep on the ground or possibly up in a tree if the weather’s nice,” according to law enforcement officials.
A new search effort is scheduled to begin April 24 at 10 a.m. at the Eastern Lake Trailhead in Santa Rosa Beach. Family members, who reside in Wisconsin, are organizing to travel to Florida to conduct the search.
- “We desperately want to find him,” said his sister Calie Judkins.
The family has established a Facebook group called “Search Efforts for Bret Valona” to coordinate their efforts and share information.
Valona is described as 6 feet 1 inch tall, weighing 190 pounds, with brown hair, blue eyes, and a brown goatee. He was last seen wearing a flannel shirt, khaki pants, and a yellow rain jacket.
Anyone with information about Valona’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Walton County Sheriff’s Office at 850-892-8111.