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GREENSBORO — Authorities are speculating that an Oak Ridge man reported missing last week may have fled the area to avoid questioning in a criminal investigation.

Jason “Jake” Paul Aton, 32, of 2874 Oak Ridge Road, was found alive late Monday in Wrightsville Beach after a patrol officer matched him to a missing person’s report.

He had been missing since at least June 2 after he failed to show up for work the day before at the Food Lion on Drawbridge Parkway, where he worked as a manager.

Authorities with the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office said on Tuesday afternoon that they are relieved to find out that Aton was Ok, but are looking into the possibility he fled to avoid an investigation conducted by Greensboro police.

The case involved the embezzlement of $10,000 in lottery tickets, reported stolen from the Food Lion store Aton worked at, said Capt. Janice Rogers with Greensboro police.

She did not have specific details on the investigation, but said Aton went missing around the time the lottery tickets were taken.

The detective assigned to the case could not be reached for comment on Tuesday night. It is unclear when the theft occurred and to what extent Aton was being considered as a suspect.

Capt. Tony Caliendo, who heads the sheriff’s office Special Operations Division, said detectives learned early on that Aton was a person of interest in the Greensboro case and speculated that’s why he left.

The sheriff’s office deployed a helicopter and a small airplane to aid in their week-long search for Aton, which also included ground searches along the route from his house to the store.

Caliendo couldn’t give an estimate how much the sheriff’s office spent on the search, which involved two or three detectives daily, working at least four to five hours each on the case.

He said local investigators have yet to talk to Aton, who was still in Wrightsville Beach on Tuesday. No charges are expected in relation to the missing persons case.

“It wasn’t that he was here locally and trying to elude us on purpose. He picked up and left town for whatever reason, either legitimate or because of the criminal investigation,” Caliendo said.

“When we heard that he was found and in good health, it was a relief more than anything else.”

Aton’s friends said they too were relieved of he was found safe, but were shocked to learn of the criminal investigation.

“If it turns out any of this is true... we had no clue anything was going on,” said Noel Dougherty, a friend of Aton’s.

“We hope to hear more soon when we see him. We are just happy he is alive.”

Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com