Phil Johnson

UPDATE:

Phil Johnson is in physical therapy after falling in his bathtub a week ago.

Friends were worried when they could not get in touch with him and contacted Plano police and Dallas Voice.

Johnson’s sister took him to the hospital and had his cell phone so he was not able to answer calls. He is expected to be released later this week.

ORIGINAL POST:

LGBT community leader Phil Johnson, 86, is missing, and Plano police are asking for help and any information.

Daniel Sepko, a friend from Ohio who keeps in touch with Johnson, contacted Instant Tea on Monday and said he hasn’t heard from him in more than a week. After calls to Johnson weren’t returned, Sepko contacted several friends in Plano who also had not heard from Johnson in several weeks. This morning Sepko contacted Plano police.

Plano police went to Johnson’s house. When there was no response at the door, they entered the house and found his car in the garage but no sign of Johnson.

Officer David Tilley said Plano police checked hospitals and ambulance calls. There was no mail stacked in the box or newspapers at the door. However, he said, neighbors said they haven’t seen Johnson in about a week.

Sepko said Johnson was taking a class at Collin County Community College, so it’s unlikely he went out of town during the semester, especially without telling anyone.

Johnson is best known as a chronicler of Dallas LGBT community. His donation of printed material to Resource Center Dallas was the beginning of that organization’s archives known as the Phil Johnson Archives & Library. He had collected every copy of the Advocate, Dallas Voice, TWT and articles about the LGBT community in Dallas dating back to the 1940s. In the 1960s, he also created the first gay group in Dallas, called Circle of Friends.

Anyone with information or who has seen Johnson recently should contact Plano police at 972-941-2148.