Reproduced from INDYSTAR.COM

By Ben Zion Hershberg

Eric Hall, 24, was last seen a week ago Sunday talking to his grandmother, who was visiting Port Charlotte, Fla., where he had been living for a couple of weeks, his father said.

Hall had been taking medicine to control the hallucinations and other effects of post-traumatic stress, his father said, but had stopped early last month.

As he was talking with his grandmother, Hall began acting as if he had a weapon in his hand and was talking on a radio, his father said yesterday.

"He told her they were surrounded, dropped down and prayed and ran out and jumped on his motorcycle," Kevin Hall said.

The motorcycle was found about a mile away, lying on the road and still running, said

Hall, maintenance manager of the Clark County Government Building in Jeffersonville.

The Charlotte County Sheriff's Department has received numerous calls about possible sightings of Eric Hall, but searches by police and volunteers have failed to locate him.

"If someone sees him, at least tell him to call somebody to tell us he's OK," his father said. "He's not done anything wrong."

An interview with the elder Hall at his home on Graves Drive was interrupted several times by phone calls. He quickly answered each time but got no new information.

His wife, Becky, is in Florida helping to coordinate the search. Kevin Hall returned so that if his son attempted to get home or call, someone would be there.

"I think he's around the homeless people" who live in the mostly deserted area where the motorcycle was found, Hall said. He said his son always was a quiet, private person.

"I don't think he's made contacts. I think he's watching to see how the homeless people live," Hall said.

Because Eric Hall was a scout as a Marine, he has been trained to live off the land and stay hidden from anyone who might be searching for him, Kevin Hall said. Experts say there's no way to know how long the hallucinations and anxiety might last, he said.

Eric Hall was severely wounded by a roadside bomb three years ago when he was on patrol in Fallujah. The explosion tore a piece of flesh the size of a basketball from his left hip, broke the upper bone in his leg and caused nerve damage to his right arm. It also killed a friend in his unit.

After extensive treatment, including hospitalization and numerous surgeries at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., his son was making good progress physically, Kevin Hall said.

But his mental condition was still fragile, and he had been unable to find a job. Eric Hall was hoping to get a new start in Florida, where he had found a home with a friend that wasn't far from family friends and relatives, his father said.

After three years of constant worry, Kevin Hall said, he and his wife had decided to take a cruise near Fort Lauderdale when Eric moved to Florida. They learned of his disappearance last week, the day before they returned.

The situation has left him and his wife worried, anxious and feeling unable to do anything to help, he said. "It's in God's hands," Kevin Hall said.

Additional searches were conducted over the weekend and yesterday with volunteer help and the use of helicopters and dogs, she said.

"We need to hear from him," Becky Hall said.

Bob Carpenter, a spokesman for the Charlotte County sheriff, said the department was following up on calls about sightings.

Kevin Hall said anyone with information about his son should call the Charlotte sheriff's department at (941) 639-0013.