September 15, 2014: Crystal Lake, IL – Noted local sportswriter Gator Hammonds was reported missing to Crystal Lake authorities over the weekend by a colleague.  Hammonds, 48, has been a writer with the Daily Tribune for 13 years, spending a majority of the last seven covering the local baseball team, the Crystal Lake Sandgnats.  According to reports from the Crystal Lake Police Department, Hammonds has not been heard from since he departed for vacation to the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia on August 22^nd.  According to various media outlets, Hammonds failed to check-in for his flight back to Chicago the morning of September 5^th.

It is unknown why Hammonds reported disappearance did not coincide with his presumptive return date to the U.S.  Crystal Lake Police have been tight lipped about the investigation thus far, but given its international angle, the Tribune has learned that the FBI has been asked to assist.  While authorities have no immediate reason to suspect foul play, they have noted that this was Hammonds’s third trip to Saint Lucia this year and fifteenth in the last six years.

Hammonds gained fame in 2012 for his reporting on the archaeological finds discovered at Gnat Field during exterior digs on the facility’s grounds.  His close association with then-GM Dean Giesey afforded him access to the team which others were unable to duplicate.  Hammonds is unmarried and has no children.