State police this morning planned a helicopter search for a Butler County man missing for six weeks.

Authorities, however, acknowledged that finding Mickey Scheller, 21, is somewhat of a long shot.

Scheller of Franklin Township seemingly dropped off the face of the Earth Aug. 7.

“No one has seen him or heard from him since that date,” police Sgt. Patrick Sarnese said Thursday.

Police have uncovered no records to indicate Scheller has used his cell phone or bank debit card since he disappeared.

“We’re concerned,” Sarnese said. Foul play, he acknowledged, is a possibility.

Scheller’s mother, Vicki, knows all the possibilities, most of which keep her in tears and up at night.

“I just have no idea what happened,” she said. “It’s been too long.”

Today’s search, which was to begin at 9 a.m., was to play out in and around Lawrence County’s Hillsville section, where Scheller was known to frequent.

“He’s a four-wheel drive enthusiast and Hillsville has a big reclaimed strip mine and trails that attract a lot of this kind of activity,” Sarnese said. “(Scheller) went there a lot.”

In addition to a state police helicopter crew, a dive team was to help in the search. The reclaimed mine and surrounding environs include ponds and quarries.

A heavy equipment operator for Raducz Stone Corp. in Penn Township, Scheller had called off work Aug. 6 due to a fever, his family said.

He had recently moved from his parents’ house in Franklin Township and in with his girlfriend in New Sewickley, Beaver County.

On Aug. 7, his girlfriend believed he was headed for work when he left home. But he never made it.

Instead, Scheller and a friend showed up together at the Prospect Corner Store. The two departed separately. That’s when Scheller ostensibly vanished.

The friend told investigators that Scheller did not disclose where he was going or his plans, after driving away from the store in his dark blue Jeep Wrangler.

The Jeep, like Scheller, has not been seen since that day.

“It’s not in his character to drop out and not call his family,” Vicki Scheller said. “We were really close.”

She catches herself speaking of her son, the youngest of three siblings, in the past tense. She cries.

Mickey Scheller’s girlfriend filed a missing person’s report with New Sewickley police.

The family on their own have done what they can to find their loved one. They’ve searched his hangouts in Mount Chestnut, Porterville and Prospect, and his favorite outdoor spots like McConnells Mill in Slippery Rock Township near the Lawrence-Butler County line.

They’ve posted flyers in different communities. They’ve reached out to traditional and social media outlets to get the word out to the public.

Additionally, they made sure he is listed in the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, an online database where government representatives and the public can upload and search information,

“All we’re looking for is a hint or a clue,” the missing man’s mother said. “A little bit of information, that’s all.”

Police, meanwhile, have kept in contact with Scheller’s family, briefing them about any developments in their missing person’s case.

“But there haven’t been any developments for a while,” Vicki Scheller conceded.

Police efforts have generated some tips. “But nothing of value,” Sarnese admitted.

Mickey Scheller’s mother said she welcomes today’s search and hopes for the best. She fears the worst.

“I don’t know what to expect, or what they might find, maybe his Jeep,” she said. “I hope he’s out there camping.”

Scheller is described as white, 6 feet, 2 inches tall and about 200 pounds. He has blue eyes, blonde hair, and several tattoos.

His 2000 Jeep Wrangler has a hard top and the Pennsylvania license plate number JCW 0171.

Anyone with any information about Scheller’s whereabouts is asked to call police at 714-284-8100.