Perry County officials seek help finding missing Bonnyman man

Perry County Emergency Management asked residents for help locating Teddy Christopher Neace after he was last seen in the Bonnyman area Saturday, a search that moved quickly because family members said he may have been suffering from a mental health crisis.

Officials asked anyone with information to call 911 or their local law-enforcement agency. In a county where Bonnyman is a familiar place and word can travel fast by phone and social media, the alert relied on neighbors paying close attention to a small but urgent set of details: Neace’s name, the place he was last seen, and the possibility that he needed immediate help.

The case highlighted how Perry County’s emergency network is meant to work in a missing-person situation. Perry County Emergency Management says its job includes coordinating disaster-response efforts and public-safety information for the county. Perry County E-911 says telecommunicators quickly analyze calls and dispatch responders, including when a call comes from a cell phone and location has to be mapped in real time.

That structure matters in a rural county. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated Perry County’s population at 26,555 on July 1, 2025, down from 28,473 in the 2020 Census, a smaller population base that can make local alerts more visible and more personal. In a close-knit place, a missing-person notice can move through families, churches, workplaces, and neighborhood networks within minutes.

The stakes are especially high when family members believe a mental health crisis may be involved. UK HealthCare says suicide is the second leading cause of death for people ages 10 to 34 in Kentucky, and it says people in mental-health-related distress can call, text or chat 988 for crisis support. In situations like Neace’s, officials are not only trying to find someone physically. They are also trying to get help to a person who may be vulnerable before the situation worsens.

Local response also depends on medical transport once someone is found or needs immediate care. Perry County Ambulance Authority says it serves both city and county residents and transfers emergent patients to hospitals outside the county for specialized treatment. That broader network can become part of the response when a missing-person case intersects with behavioral health or another urgent medical need.

For Perry County, the Neace case showed how quickly emergency management, dispatchers, family members and neighbors can mobilize around a missing person in Bonnyman, and how much depends on a fast, coordinated public response.