Pearl Washington was a 63-year-old Black man from Tylertown, Mississippi, in Walthall County, when he was last seen on August 30, 2017. Public missing-person records describe him as 6 feet 2 inches tall and about 185 pounds, with black hair, brown eyes, and a gray-and-black beard. He was last known to be at his residence on Magee Badon Road in Tylertown, where one account says he was seen that morning feeding his cats outside his home.
At the time, he was believed to have been wearing a white shirt with gold and black stripes and blue jeans, and he may have been carrying a black wallet.
What made Pearl’s disappearance especially troubling was that he did not simply vanish alone; his vehicle was gone too. Authorities and public case listings say he was known to drive a white 1996 Mercury van with gold trim along the bottom. The van bore Mississippi license plate WLC795, and a Mississippi missing-person repository also lists the vehicle’s VIN as 4M2DV11WXTDJ35439. From the beginning, the absence of both Pearl and the van became central to the search, because the vehicle could have represented either the way he left the area or an important clue to what happened after he was last seen.
Pearl’s loved ones and investigators also had reason to be deeply concerned for his welfare. The Charley Project reports that he was mentally disabled and had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. MissingSippi states that his family said he did not have his needed medications with him when he went missing. Those details add a painful urgency to the case, because a disappearance under those circumstances is not only a question of location, but also of vulnerability, health, and whether Pearl may have been able to safely care for himself after leaving home.
The case was reported to law enforcement shortly after Pearl was last seen, and public records identify the investigating agency as the Tylertown Police Department, with the agency case number 17-0180. Other public listings also reference the Walthall County Sheriff’s Department in connection with the case. Despite the passage of years, publicly available case information continues to describe Pearl as missing, and the Mississippi Repository for Missing and Unidentified Persons lists the repository status as open. No public source located for this synopsis states that Pearl Washington has been found alive or deceased.
In the years since August 30, 2017, Pearl Washington’s case has remained defined by a small but significant set of facts: a man last seen at his home in Tylertown, a routine morning moment outside with his cats, a white Mercury van with gold trim that disappeared with him, and a family left without answers. The available public record does not describe a confirmed destination, a verified sighting after he vanished, or a recovery of him or the vehicle. The overview of the case is that Pearl Washington, a vulnerable 63-year-old man from Walthall County, Mississippi, disappeared from his residence in Tylertown along with his 1996 Mercury van, and his case remains an open missing-person matter with investigators still relying on information that could explain where he went and what happened to him.Last Seen: Aug 30, 2017
