Search for missing Dracut man continues

DRACUT, Mass. (WHDH) -- The search for Leo Coutu, a Dracut man who retired from the Massachusetts Department of Corrections last year, has focused on the Dracut and Lowell areas including parks and other areas he liked to walk.

Family members said the search hasn't turned up any leads and Saturday, they asked for more help.

“Dad if you're out there listening we love you and want you to return to us… please call us at the house,” said Coutu’s daughter Jacqueline Coutu in an emotional appeal for help from the three daughters of a Dracut man who has been missing since Tuesday.

The 49-year-old father Leo Coutu is about 5-foot-4 inches tall with gray hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing a blue and white striped polo shirt, blue shorts and sneakers. His daughter Jackie saw him last. The family believes he had set out for his daily walk but he never returned.

“It's very important to note that this is completely out of his character. My father is very close to my mother, sisters and I, so it's hard to believe he would not be in contact with us.”

Police and friends have spent the week searching for Coutu in the Dracut area now they're asking for more people to join the search and help bring him home.

“I can’t think of anything that would cause this to happen. I can't imagine he would voluntarily not call his children or his wife to let them know where he was,” said Colleen Garry, a family friend.

Coutu’s family said he seems to have left his house on foot Tuesday afternoon. They believe he had nothing but his keys with him.