A noon on Saturday, Feb. 24, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office distributed the following update. It appears in its entirety below.

On Friday, February 23, law enforcement in Missouri made personal contact with Jonathan Roop, who was reported missing a week prior. Mr. Roop was by himself when the encounter took place and fully answered the questions presented by law enforcement. Based on this personal interaction, Mr. Roop is no longer considered missing and subsequently the investigation into his disappearance is being closed.

Again, we wish to thank all law enforcement personnel, businesses, and the public for their assistance in this investigation.

At 8:45 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 22, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office distributed the following update. It appears in its entirety below.

After many long hours of tracking leads and conducting follow up investigations, Sheriff's Office investigators were able to track Jonathan Roop to a restaurant in Poplar Bluff, Missouri on the afternoon of February 21. Mr. Roop was alone and left the restaurant when he was being identified by an employee. Roop then drove away unaccompanied in his vehicle, as seen in the photo below. Local law enforcement was alerted and attempted to locate him, without success, but continued looking today.

While there are many unanswered questions, based on this personal sighting, we believe Mr. Roop is acting alone and traveling on his own free will. We appreciate the cooperation of law enforcement organizations, businesses, and the public during this investigation.

At 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 20, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office distributed the following update. It appears in its entirety below.


In regards to Jonathan "Johnny" Roop, investigators are continuing to pursue every lead; however, the preliminary investigation leads us to believe that he left the area of Montgomery County on his own Friday afternoon.

Based upon information received it is believed that he most likely traveled toward SW Virginia or Tennessee.

Investigators have been able to access video surveillance footage from local businesses/financial institutions and Mr. Roop was observed in the Christiansburg area of Montgomery County until around 3:30pm on Friday.

Based on interviews with friends and family (in addition to video surveillance) it was noted that Mr. Roop's behavior on Friday was not consistent with his normal patterns of behavior; however, information received seems to indicate that he was alone.

We have received no information leading us to believe that he is in immediate danger; however due to the fact that Mr. Roop appears to be acting outside of his normal behavior we would like to make contact with him to confirm that he is indeed ok.

Original post - Feb. 19, 2024

The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office is attempting to locate a 20-year-old Virginia Tech student. Johnny Roop was last seen at his apartment complex on Canyon Ridge Road in the Merrimac area of Montgomery County, Virginia, on Friday, Feb. 16, 2024.

His phone pinged near the New River Valley Mall at 4:26 p.m. later that same day. Johnny was traveling to his parent's home in Abingdon, Virginia, to take an online exam by 5 p.m. but never showed up.

He was driving a black 2018 Toyota Camry with Virginia license plate number: TXW6643. The car has a Virginia Tech flag sticker on the back window.

If you have any information or see his vehicle, please contact the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office at 540-382-4343.



Photo of Johnny Roop and the vehicle he was driving
Johnny Roop and the vehicle he was last seen driving.

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