Pastor’s missing 13-year-old son, Gunner Blair, found safe after frantic search
The Conway Police Department in South Carolina confirmed Thursday that Gunner Blair, the 13-year-old son of Langston Baptist Church Pastor Brandon Blair, who disappeared for hours in the woods behind the church on Wednesday, has been found after a desperate search and is safe.
“Gunner Lee Blair has been located and is safe,” the Conway Police Department noted in an update on its Facebook page Thursday morning.
Pastor Blair also confirmed in a separate statement Thursday morning that his son is now safe, declaring, “God is faithful” while thanking everyone who prayed and helped search for Gunner when he could not find him.
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“Gunner is home safe! I want to thank everyone who prayed, searched, and helped spread the word. God is faithful!” he noted on Facebook.
Pastor Blair, a married father of three and a United States Marine Corps veteran who served in the infantry as a machine gunner, revealed at 11:54 p.m. on Wednesday night that Gunner went missing in the woods behind his church.
“Our son Gunner is missing. He went into the woods behind our church at Langston Church and everyone has been looking including Horry County police. If anyone sees him, please call me or the police. He is wearing khaki shorts, brown t shirt and blue jacket. Prayers are appreciated,” he shared on Facebook along with a photo of Gunner.
The Conway Police Department also alerted the public that the teenager was missing shortly after 6 a.m. Thursday.
Shortly after 7 a.m. Thursday on location at the church in Conway, community members and the police who had been searching for Gunner all night with the help of police dogs and drones were still searching for him in pouring rain, ABC affiliate WPDE reported.
It was still unclear Thursday why Gunner went missing. A representative of the church also confirmed with The Christian Post that the teenager is now safe at home with his parents but declined to talk about the search for Gunner that reportedly involved nearly 100 members of the community.
The representative also noted that Pastor Blair was not immediately available for comment.
Langston Baptist Church is a member of the Southern Baptist Convention.
“We believe that the Holy Bible is the inspired word of God and is the basis for our statement of faith. The Church subscribes to the doctrinal statement of ‘The Baptist Faith and Message 2000’ as adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention,” the church notes on their website.
“Let me be clear … Just because a Christian will not support something, doesn't mean that they hate the person involved in it. Love sounds like hate to those who hate the truth. Jesus preached truth and loved all, yet they hated Him enough to kill Him,” Pastor Blair notes in a pinned post on his Facebook page. “Those who tell you the truth, love you. Those who tell you what you want to hear, love themselves. Remember that.”
Contact: leonardo.blair@christianpost.com Follow Leonardo Blair on Twitter: @leoblair Follow Leonardo Blair on Facebook: LeoBlairChristianPost
