Wife searches for missing Miller Place man

After almost four weeks, police are still looking for a Miller Place man who went out to a local liquor store and never returned.

Robert Long, 62, who his wife says is a diabetic, got into his 2007 off-white Chrysler PT Cruiser, plate number EEH-4237, on Dec. 22 to buy a bottle of alcohol at the Miller Place wine store next to the Stop & Shop on Route 25A and never returned home.

The employees in the store remember seeing him that day because he often purchased liquor there, and told Joanne Long, his wife, that they didn't notice anything out of character.

Joanne Long has been hanging handmade signs all over town to see if anyone has any information about her husband's disappearance. Neither Robert Long nor his car have been found since the disappearance. He is not senile and had just enough to buy a bottle of liquor when he left, she said.

"This is totally out of character for him," she said. "When he did drink, he would get a bottle and come home . . . He was wearing his house slippers and had no money, and only the clothes on his back."

He never frequented bars or other places where alcohol was served, she said.

Robert Long had his cell phone, but not the charger, so it would be useless by now, she said, adding that he is also without his insulin.

Robert Long had talked about suicide in the past, but he never followed through, his wife said.

Family members have gone to some of his favorite places, including Cedar Beach in Miller Place, where he loved to feed the seagulls. So far, there have been no clues to his disappearance, she said.

Long is 6 feet tall with brown hair and blue eyes and weighs about 270 pounds. Police ask anyone with information about Long or his disappearance to call Suffolk police's missing persons department at 631-852-6044. The family is offering a reward for any information about Long's disappearance.