Willis B. “Bill” Stark, an 85-year-old man, was last seen on November 14, 2001, in the Tuscaloosa, Alabama area, with public case records also tying his disappearance to a point east of Pell City as he tried to find his way back toward Tuscaloosa. He was a white male, about 5 feet 4 inches tall and approximately 150 pounds, with gray or partially gray hair, blue eyes, and eyeglasses.
Public missing-person listings describe him as endangered, and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency notice says he had Alzheimer’s disease and may have needed medical attention, a detail that gives the case a particularly heartbreaking urgency: this was not simply an older man who had chosen to leave, but a vulnerable person who may have become confused while trying to navigate familiar roads.
The known story begins with Stark traveling in Alabama on the day he disappeared. According to public case summaries, he was last seen about eight miles east of Pell City, where he stopped at a body shop and asked for directions to Tuscaloosa, the city where he lived. The available information suggests he was trying to get home or reach a destination connected to Tuscaloosa, but somewhere after that stop, the trail faded. The Charley Project notes that he has never been heard from again, and the Alabama Missing Person Directory repeats the same central detail: he stopped for directions to Tuscaloosa and then vanished from the known record.
At the time, Stark may have been driving a 1991 Buick Century with Alabama license plate 63FZ290. Public sources differ on the vehicle’s color, with NamUs-derived summaries and the Alabama Missing Person Directory describing it as maroon, while The Charley Project describes it as navy blue; that discrepancy is important because it shows how even basic details can become complicated in older missing-person cases. Regardless of the color description, the vehicle itself became central to the search because Stark and the Buick appear to have disappeared together. Public case information also mentions a possible sighting in Duncanville, Alabama, where he may have been asking for directions, but that sighting has not been confirmed.
The circumstances are especially painful because the public information points less toward a planned disappearance and more toward a man who may have been disoriented, vulnerable, and trying to find his way. A public discussion quoting a January 2002 report states that police did not suspect foul play at that time and believed Stark may have become disoriented and lost. That same account says he had been missing for about two months by then, underscoring how quickly the first hours and days turned into a prolonged absence with few firm answers. For relatives, neighbors, investigators, and anyone who knew him as Bill, the unanswered question was not only where he went, but how an ordinary trip for directions could become a disappearance lasting decades.
The case remains defined by a small number of haunting facts: Willis “Bill” Stark was 85, male, and living in the Tuscaloosa, Alabama area when he disappeared on November 14, 2001; he had Alzheimer’s disease and may have been confused or in need of care; he was associated with a 1991 Buick Century bearing Alabama plate 63FZ290; he was reportedly seen asking for directions east of Pell City, with an unconfirmed possible sighting later in Duncanville; and after that, neither Stark nor his vehicle was recovered in the public record reviewed here. In overview, this is the story of an elderly man who appears to have set out on a routine errand or journey, became separated from the safety of home, and left behind a case built around directions asked, roads possibly taken, and a long silence that still calls for answers.Last Seen: Nov 14, 2001
