Family of missing Carter County man seeking tips

CARTER COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Tiffany Cole, the daughter of missing man Victor Birchfield, has spent her thirty-fourth birthday searching the places investigators say her father’s car’s location pinged.

“I would rather nothing in the world than to know where my dad is,” Cole told News Channel 11, seven days after her father went missing.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation issued a Silver Alert on behalf of the Carter County Sheriff’s Office, reporting that Birchfield was last seen June 19. He is believed to be traveling in a Silver Toyota 4Runner with damage to the rear.

Cole said she last saw Birchfield Wednesday evening at her home before he headed to the Elizabethton Airport, where he worked as a mechanic.

Cole said Birchfield often worked through the night, so she wasn’t concerned when he didn’t answer her call the next day, around three in the afternoon.

“But about 1 a.m., when we started settling down and I still hadn’t heard from him, I sent him a text that was like, ‘Hey, Daddy, I’m really worried.'” Cole said.

When she woke to no response the following day, June 21, she reported him missing to the police.

Since then, Cole has been piecing together a timeline of Birchfield’s last known locations, starting with his departure from the Elizabethton Airport hangar, where he worked until around 6:50 a.m. Security cameras at the airport picked up Birchfield leaving in his car. However, after this point, the driver is unrecognizable in the footage.

Cole said that around forty minutes later, his silver 4Runner was spotted on SR-321 in Hampton, headed towards Lake Watauga and then in Boone, North Carolina.

“Then the car traveled from Asheville to Clemson, South Carolina, where the last tag hit was at 2:13 p.m. on Thursday afternoon,” Cole said.

Cole and Birchfield’s friends are especially curious about any sightings between the airport and SR-321.

Dean Davison has been a client and friend of Birchfield’s for several years. Like Cole, he’s traced Birchfield’s route, replicating his path from work this morning.

“There’s tons of traffic along that route at that time of day,” Davison told News Channel 11. “We feel like somebody saw something that could definitely help.”

The Carter County Sheriff’s Office confirmed today that they are continuing to investigate any leads.

In the meantime, Cole misses the man she described as her best friend.

“We talked about everything,” Cole said.

While the police search for answers, Cole asks the community for help.

“My hope is that someone in the community either here in Elizabethton up towards Hampton through the Poga-Butler area into South Carolina, someone saw something that rings a bell and that someone is compelled to reach out,” Cole said. “We want to know any information. I would be thankful for something that’s nothing.”

Anyone with information on Victor Birchfield’s possible whereabouts is asked to call the CCSO at 423-542-1845 or the TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

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