LEE – Heather Whitney is counting on the community to rally around the local family of a U.S. Air Force crew chief who disappeared in Texas in mid-January.

The 23-year-old Kingman woman and several friends are holding a benefit dance for Leslie Severance on March 19 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Lincoln to raise money to help Severance locate his son.

“His son is missing in Texas, so there is not much he can do here. This is just to raise money to help him,” Whitney said Tuesday. “If he needs to take time to go down there, he can with this [money]. Or it’s for whatever’s necessary.”

Leslie Severance is a Lincoln resident who works at the mill in town, according to Whitney, a friend of the family.

Michael Leslie Severance, a staff sergeant and a C-130 crew chief at Dyess Air Force base in Abilene, who lives in San Angelo, was last seen by his wife on Jan. 15, San Angelo police have stated, according to a local newspaper account.

The Air Force lists Severance as absent without leave. According to police, Severance had been behaving “out of character” for a few weeks before his disappearance.

Severance was seen at the Graham Central Station, a San Angelo nightclub, and at Buffalo Wild Wings, a San Angelo restaurant, several times before his disappearance.

He also disappeared for hours at a time before he was last seen, according to police. Police said they saw no problems with Severance and have no theories as to why he disappeared.

The San Angelo Police Department, the Dyess Office of Special Investigations and the Texas Rangers are handling the investigation, Dyess spokesman Capt. David May said in the newspaper story.

According to Whitney, Severance was planning a trip home to Lee on the day of his disappearance, but he never got on the plane. His wife last saw him at 4:30 a.m.

About 100 raffle tickets for the dance already have been sold, Whitney said. Tickets will be sold at the door for $10 per person and $18 per couple.

Anyone interested in buying tickets or otherwise contributing to the dance can call Whitney at 794-5967 or Nicole Leighton of Springfield at 738-2005.

“It would be just awful not knowing where your son was,” Whitney said. “You kind of feel for the family, especially with them being a very close family.”

Anyone with information as to Severance’s whereabouts is asked to call the San Angelo Police Department at (325) 657-4351, San Angelo Crime Stoppers at (325) 657-4333, or Abilene Crime Stoppers at (800) 868-8477.