LAKE BROWNWOOD (May 14, 2010)—Crews dragged Lake Brownwood Thursday while divers searched below the lake’s surface in an unsuccessful attempt to locate an elderly rural Central Texas man who’s been missing for nearly three weeks.

Friday, cadaver dogs were brought in to continue the search on land.

Authorities were also working Friday to gain access to private property in the area.

The lake has been the focus of the search for Richard Gary Parker, 76, of Aquilla, since his pickup truck was discovered last week, abandoned in the parking lot of a lakeside lodge.

Earlier this week, two fishermen told Brown County authorities they saw Parker at the lake on April 25, a day after Parker drove off from his home.

The fishermen, who were at the lake for a fishing tournament that weekend, said Parker’s truck was parked on a boat ramp when they spotted him at around 5 a.m. on April 25.

Mistaking Parker’s dementia for intoxication, they said the moved the truck to an RV parking slot so it wouldn’t block access to the ramp during the tournament.

They said they last saw him by the truck in the RV parking lot at Mountain View Lodge to which they moved the pickup.

Lodge employees didn’t notice the truck until last week and had it towed last Friday.

The towing company notified the Texas Department of Public Safety, which later checked the license number and discovered the truck belonged to the missing man.

The DPS contacted the Hill County Sheriff’s Office Tuesday.

The Brown County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday searchers were dragging the lake.

Family members, who packed up and headed directly to Brownwood when they learned Parker’s truck had been found, continue to wait for word on the missing man’s fate.

Authorities don’t know whether Parker is dead or alive and his whereabouts are still a mystery.

His daughter said Wednesday that he and other family members had camped at the lake in the past and that he may have remembered the trip.

He hasn’t been seen since driving off on April 24 from his home the 1900 block of Farm-to-Market 933 in Aquilla.

Parker suffers from dementia and has Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure for which he requires daily medication.