Scotty Manuel
- The Find Me Project
- Sep 10, 2025
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 10
What This Case Needs
What we need most right now is input from community members who are familiar with the two identified areas of interest and can share any information they may have. We have conducted one land and underwater search. Additional information can help with future search efforts.
Case Information
Name: Scotty Manuel
Missing Since: June 23, 2022
Missing Age: 37
Missing From: Walnut Cove, North Carolina
Biological Sex: Male
Height: 5' 9"
Weight: 145 lbs
Race / Ethnicity: White / Caucasian
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Green
Distinctive Physical Features: Walks with a distinctive limp. Has a 5-10 inch scar on the right side of upper shoulder near the arm pit on the front side of his body. “Scotty" tattooed across his back between the shoulder blades.
Clothing & Accessories: Wearing a blue Wal-Mart T-Shirt with the sleeves cut off, blue jeans, and baseball cap.
Transportation: N/A
External Link: Click Here To Open
Circumstances of Disappearance
On June 23, 2022, a routine afternoon in rural Stokes County, North Carolina turned into a bewildering mystery. Thirty-seven-year-old Scotty Jameson Manuel set out from his parents’ home in Germanton, NC, presumably headed on one of his frequent fishing trips, and never returned. Scotty’s sudden vanishing from the quiet community near Walnut Cove sent shockwaves through his family and neighbors, sparking a search that continues to this day. How could a beloved son and avid fisherman disappear in broad daylight without a trace? The case of Scotty Manuel remains an agonizing puzzle for those who know and love him, as they cling to hope and tirelessly seek answers.
Scotty stood about 5′9″ tall and weighed around 140 pounds. He has brown hair and green eyes, with several distinctive features. The name “Scotty” is tattooed across his back, a sizeable scar on his left arm, and a noticeable limp on his right side from an old leg injury. Those who knew Scotty say it wasn’t unusual for him to wander off to nearby ponds or creeks at a moment’s notice to fish, sometimes without telling anyone, but he always came back home by nightfall. That's what make his unexplained disappearance all the more alarming.
June 23, 2022 was a Thursday, and by all accounts it began ordinarily for the Manuel family. Scotty was staying with his parents in Germanton at the time and had been experiencing some health and behavioral challenges. According to his family, Scotty has a cognitive impairment that requires daily medication. In the days prior to June 23, Scotty had been severely sleep-deprived, which could have caused him to become disoriented. Despite this, Scotty decided that afternoon to do something he loved, go fishing. At approximately 4:00 p.m., he left his parents’ house (on NC Highway 65 West) on foot with his fishing gear. Scotty often fished at creeks and ponds around the area, and leaving on a short fishing outing was nothing out of the ordinary for him.
Witnesses would later report seeing Scotty about twenty minutes after he left home, around 4:20 p.m., walking near the intersection of Baux Mountain Road and Leake Memorial Church Road. This spot is not far from his grandparents’ residence, and it appears Scotty may have headed in that direction after leaving his parents’ house. Scotty was reportedly visiting his grandparents that day, and family members noted he seemed confused when he was last seen outside their home, before walking off toward a wooded area along the road.
Scotty did not take a cell phone with him, nor any food or water, suggesting he expected to return home before long. He carried only his tackle box, fishing rod, and a small handheld American flag that he liked to have with him. He was dressed for a casual summer day, wearing a blue Walmart t-shirt, a ball cap, blue jeans, and black sneakers. Nothing about his departure raised immediate red flags for his family. It was only later, when evening came and Scotty never returned home, that his loved ones knew something was very wrong.
When Scotty’s family realized he was missing, they alerted local authorities. The Stokes County Sheriff’s Office organized a search, and an alert went out describing Scotty and his last known whereabouts. First responders converged on the area around Baux Mountain Road and Leake Memorial Church Road, the vicinity of Scotty’s last sighting. Walnut Cove Fire & Rescue volunteers joined the effort, posting on social media to urge drivers to use caution on local roads while crews scoured the surroundings. The search soon ramped up with additional expertise. The Winston-Salem Fire Department’s search and rescue team was deployed to assist in combing the rural landscape for any sign of the missing 37-year-old.
Intelligence Overview
Image View 1: Shows overview of area. Red house is where Scotty was living. The bullseye is where a witness saw Scotty roughly 20 minutes after leaving his residence on foot. The purple flag represents Scotty's grandparents home. Red circles are water search areas, known as Hydro Anomaly Zones (HAZs). The travel and search rings are in increments of .5 miles. Based on profile, pattern of life, and movement data on the day Scotty vanished, we estimate that highest probability for search areas is within .5 miles and 1 mile (represented by red rings). Computational data analysis and lidar scans were used to leverage predictive modeling.
Image View 2: Close up of two primary search areas. Based on behavioral and forensic profiling, these search areas have the greatest potential related to where Scotty could have visited on the day he vanished. Intelligence and information received from locals also identify the HAZs within the search area as known fishing locations. The green marking in the upper left corner indicates a live search that the team conducted on foot and underwater. If you live in the area, or frequent it, please send us any information you may have. We are most interested in information that identifies and effective way to get our sonar and dive boat back into the area and also communicating with property owners so we can perform enhanced searches in the area.
Findings
Pending Completion
Case Contact Information
Case Contact Entity: Stokes County Sheriff's Office
Case Contact Name: Dennis Brown, Detective
Case Contact Info: (336) 593-2473
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