Police find man and child during search for missing Norman pair
The medical examiner will make the identification. Separately, Gainesville ISD says it will appeal its state ratings if it finds discrepancies, and Teamsters announced a strike at Safran Seats.
Gainesville police say an investigator found a deceased man and child on Oct. 14 while searching for a father and son missing from Norman, Oklahoma. The police release did not definitively identify them. It leaves positive identification to the medical examiner and says Texas Rangers are assisting.
An Oklahoma endangered-missing advisory issued Oct. 13 named the missing pair as Caleb Furley, 25, and his son, Andres "Harry" Furley, 4. The advisory says Norman police received the missing-person report on Oct. 12. It says the boy was last seen with his father around 7 p.m. on Oct. 11. On Oct. 14 the Oklahoma Highway Patrol issued an AMBER Alert for the boy on behalf of Norman police. The alert said the father missed an exchange with the child's mother and was subject to a parental-kidnapping warrant.
Gainesville police had investigated a suspicious encounter involving a man and child on North Grand Avenue on Oct. 12, including a drone search, according to the release. After a relative contacted police on Oct. 14, investigators reviewed surveillance footage and searched the surrounding area, where the bodies were discovered. Texas DPS says an alert's "Found" label is preliminary and unofficial, and that the investigating agency must confirm the outcome.
In a separate case, police said Gary Burk, 74, of Gainesville died at a hospital after a Sept. 25 collision at East Highway 82 and FM 371. Police said two other trucks struck his pickup as he crossed the highway. On Sept. 27 the department corrected its first account: three vehicles were involved, not five. TxDOT recorded 11 traffic deaths in Cooke County in 2025. The agency reports that Texas deaths fell about 9 percent that year and that rural crashes accounted for roughly half of them.
Texas traffic deaths in 2025
Down 9.38% from 4,159 in 2024. Rural crashes accounted for 1,889 of the deaths, or 50.12% of the statewide total.
Gainesville ISD said it would review its preliminary 2025-2026 accountability ratings and pursue an appeal if it identified discrepancies. The district reported a four-point gain in its overall score. Chalmers and Edison elementary schools each improved from an F to a B. Gainesville Intermediate and Gainesville High School each fell six points, and the junior high rose two. The Texas Education Agency says successful appeals generally involve data or calculation errors attributable to the agency, a regional education service center or a testing contractor. It says the appeal process is not intended to correct inaccurate data submitted by a district.
Gain at both Chalmers and Edison elementary schools, each rising from an F to a B
The district score rose four points to 69. Gainesville Intermediate and Gainesville High School each fell six points, and Gainesville Junior High rose two.
At Safran Seats, Teamsters Local 767 announced a strike on Sept. 24. The union said more than 350 members want an agreement without mandatory overtime, with holiday pay restored and with fair wages, including for workers at the top of their pay scales. The union said workers rejected the company's proposed agreement on Sept. 18 because it kept a mandatory-overtime provision.
The National Labor Relations Board docket lists a Local 767 charge against Safran Seats, filed Sept. 24, alleging coercive conduct. The case closed Oct. 13 after approval of a withdrawal request, according to the docket, which does not establish a finding that Safran violated labor law.
_Editor's note: Everyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law._
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