Missing Longview Man Found in Ditch

LONGVIEW — Family members of a blind Longview man missing since this past weekend were saddened Friday after hearing his body had been discovered, but said they were relieved to start the grieving process.

“We know where he is now,” said Danette Pierce, a cousin of 30-year-old Gaylon Cortez Bradley. Family members said police told them Bradley’s body was found about 4 p.m. Friday in a ditch in the 1200 block of Pegues Place in North Longview. “I was praying that he would be found, that he would come home. Not two hours later here we are,” she said.

Children practicing in the soccer fields across from the Longview Christian School Early Learning Center found Bradley’s body, said Longview police spokeswoman Kristie Brian. Bradley’s aunt, Mary Murphy, told police earlier this week her nephew was last seen walking away from his grandmother’s home in the 1200 block of Eighth Street — two streets over from where he was found.

More than 20 family members and friends huddled together at Tenth Street and Pegues Place waiting to hear if it was Bradley, while police officers and firefighters worked to extract the man’s body from the 12-foot-deep ditch. Gregg County Pct. 3 Justice of the Peace Talyna Carlson pronounced Bradley dead and ordered his body sent to Tyler for autopsy. Police have not said whether they suspect foul play or how long he had been dead.