The search for Charlie Dowd appeared to be narrowing Tuesday - five days after the 69-year-old retired San Francisco firefighter left on the California Zephyr train from Emeryville to Chicago.
When his train arrived in Chicago on Friday, Dowd's luggage and cell phone were aboard, but he could not be found.
Dowd's family is in Lincoln, Neb., following up on potential public sightings. A local television station is set to broadcast live from the Amtrak station there during Tuesday evening's newscasts.
Amtrak also released new information.
According to the family, Amtrak reported that a passenger saw Dowd near a door of the train approximately 10 p.m. Thursday. Another passenger found an exterior door ajar about an hour later. The passenger didn't report the open door to Amtrak staff until the following morning.
Amtrak said conductors called for Dowd over the loud speaker with no response at approximately 9:30 a.m. Friday.
Amtrak officials told the family that leads them to believe that Dowd may have opened the exterior door and fallen out.
Dowd has no history of dementia, but he was apparently confused at one point talking as if he were in an apartment and not a train.
Amtrak said the timing put the train somewhere between Fort Morgan, Colorado and McCook, Neb., around the time Dowd was seen and the door was open.
On the Facebook page dedicated to the search, Dowd's children said they will be moving their search from Lincoln to Fort Morgan.
They are asking for support and assistance from locals and they have been getting a lot of it. The family thanked the many volunteers who have joined the search and asked that they please continue searching for their dad.
Alerts and updates can be found on: www.facebook.com/MissingPersonCharlieDowd.
Below is a Google map that shows Fort Morgan to McCook.
