Batesville police have called off a ground search for a man who walked away from the Region IV Crisis Center Saturday.

“We’ve had three different calls with a pretty good description” of a man seen walking on the southbound on Interstate 55, Batesville police Captain Jimmy McCloud said.

David Branch, a 40-year-old white male last seen wearing a blue-striped shirt, jeans and tennis shoes left the facility Saturday afternoon, Police Chief Tony Jones said. Branch was a voluntary commital at the facility and not considered dangerous, the police chief said.

Searchers had spent late Saturday afternoon and most of Sunday searching the wooded area south of Walmart and east of I-55, employing search dogs, a helicopter from the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Department and all-terrain vehicles, but to no avail.

An off-duty deputy sheriff from another county said the he spotted a man walking south near the Pope exit on I-55 about 6:30 a.m. Sunday. Another sighting was reported at Duck Hill, again on the southbound side.

“We just don’t believe he is here,” McCloud said. Branch had once walked away from a Memphis treatment facility and later turned up in Little Rock, the police captain said. The decision to end the ground search came after consultation with members of Branch’s family, he said. Officers will continue to carry photos of Branch and regional media will be asked to continue broadcasting the missing man’s description.