PROVINCETOWN — Bruce Crowley, 57, left work in Revere on the evening of Dec. 28 and was last seen by an innkeeper and in surveillance footage at the Anchor Inn Beach House on Commercial Street on Dec. 30.
“Bruce told the innkeeper he was meeting friends for dinner,” his sister, Judy Davis, told the Independent.
He never returned. He left belongings in his room and his gray Mini Cooper in a West End parking lot, Davis said. Although it has been widely reported that Crowley spent New Year’s Eve weekend in Provincetown, his whereabouts after Friday, Dec. 30 are unknown.
Crowley, a drug addiction counselor, had told no one where he was going, failed to deliver medication to a client on Dec. 28, and missed work on Thursday, Dec. 29, according to his coworker Jessica McIntyre, a technician at Power of Recovery in Revere. The organization’s website states that Crowley is a “primary therapist” and was pursuing a master’s degree in psychology and addiction counseling.
“We want people to know that Bruce is someone who people care about, and we want to find him,” Davis said.
Police have some evidence that Crowley visited the Crown & Anchor on Dec. 30, according to Davis. But no one in his wide circle of family, friends, and coworkers has seen or heard from him since Dec. 28, she said.
Davis described her brother as light-hearted and having a quick wit. “Bruce always will greet someone with a big smile,” she said.
He was interested in fashion, Davis said, and he worked for years as a hair stylist in Florida. About four years ago, he developed a drug problem and was using crack cocaine, she said. He came back to Massachusetts, where he is from, to get treatment.
Crowley lives in Malden at a sober home, which he also manages. He works at the Philip Edward Salon in Charlestown as well as at Power of Recovery.
“Bruce was not actively using in the last 18 months,” Davis said. “But with the potential that he relapsed, we are very concerned.”
McIntyre said she last saw Crowley at 7:45 p.m. on Dec. 28 when he came to the office they shared. No one at the Malden sober home saw him on Dec. 28, McIntyre said.
McIntyre and Davis both told the Independent that Crowley withdrew $950 from his bank account on Dec. 28. “And then he went to Provincetown without telling anyone — not a soul,” McIntyre said.
Though he had relapsed a few months ago, it was just for one night, McIntyre said. He had stayed sober since then, she said, but she surmised that he went to Provincetown with the intention of using drugs.
The family does not think he had any close friends here. When he visited Provincetown, it was usually with friends from Florida, his sister said.
The oldest of six children, “Bruce was extremely smart and responsible,” McIntyre said. “Almost to the point it was annoying how together and stable he seemed.”
Crowley has tattoos on his neck, hands, arms, and chest — a detail that might stand out to someone sitting next to him at a bar, Davis said.
On Dec. 28, he was wearing a navy turtleneck under a navy V-neck sweater. He had on black and blue plaid pants and dress shoes with navy blue on the toe and black at the heel, McIntyre said. The surveillance footage from the Anchor Inn showed Crowley wearing dark jeans and a dark top on Dec. 30, Davis said.
The police have been looking for Crowley since Jan. 4 when he was reported missing. On Jan. 13, the case was transferred to the Mass. State Police assigned to the Cape & Islands district attorney’s office. The state police have done helicopter and water searches around Provincetown, his sister said.
“We are very grateful for their efforts,” said Davis. “At the same time, we want help from the public.”
Anyone having information about Crowley should contact the State Police at 508-790-5799.