The last time the family of Michael Thompson saw him was Sunday, April 21. Almost two months later family members are still holding out hope the 61-year-old man is alive but also understand the chances.

“We are hoping to find him,” sister Felicia Thompson said. “We are hoping he just needed a break but it is not looking too good. We are holding out hope.”

Thompson was last seen leaving a family function in Eclectic. The family filed a missing person’s report with the Tallassee Police Department two days later. Thompson’s vehicle was found the next day in Macon County where a search involving multiple law enforcement agencies, a helicopter and canine teams occurred.

Tallassee police chief Todd Buce said his department is still investigating the case.

“We still have the case and it is assigned to an investigator,” Buce saiAd. “It is still open but we haven’t had any promising leads lately.”

Buce said there is still some evidence in the case being examined by forensics and might provide some information.

The police chief said as a case ages, law enforcement doesn’t let evidence gather dust.

“You go through the case file,” Buce said. “After a while you go back and interview those who have been interviewed before. Maybe let someone else interview them and come back with ideas.”

Officers may even discuss the case with officers from other departments when they go to training and classes. Sometimes ideas come from the discussions that lead to more evidence or theories to investigate. If large amounts of time elapse, some physical evidence can be reexamined.

“There may be technological advances to aid in the investigation that were not available when the case was initiated,” Buce said.

Like all investigations, the police can act only on information given to them.

“If anyone sees anything in any case, they should speak up,” Buce said. “Even if they think it is trivial, that small bit of information may help connect evidence in a case.”