PITTSFIELD – The disappearance of an Oakfield long-haul trucker whose tractor-trailer was found abandoned more than a week ago at the Interstate 95 rest area in Pittsfield has baffled his family, his employer and police.

Clark MacDonald, 43, was last seen in Hermon on Nov. 8 as he left for Massachusetts to deliver what he thought was a trailer load of potatoes.

While the tractor-trailer was found abandoned in Pittsfield, MacDonald’s whereabouts are a mystery.

A search of the rest area by police and wardens accompanied by trained search and cadaver dogs failed to turn up any leads, Maine State Police Trooper Jeffery Beach said Sunday. He said the truck was examined by state police, MacDonald’s financial records were examined, hospitals and hotels in the state were contacted, and family and friends were called, but no clues were found about MacDonald’s whereabouts.

MacDonald’s elderly parents are distraught.

“He’d call us all the time. This is totally out of character,” MacDonald’s mother, Lois MacDonald, said Sunday.

Clark MacDonald, who was a driver for Little Rock Express of Houlton, lived with his mother and his father, Bud MacDonald.

Dave Britton, co-owner of Little Rock Express, said MacDonald left Houlton about 8 p.m. Tuesday for Dysart’s in Hermon, where he was to pick up a trailer filled with potatoes. Because of mechanical problems, MacDonald changed tractors before he hooked up to the trailer. A mistake occurred and MacDonald hooked up an empty trailer and left Bangor at 9:15 a.m.

From receipts police found inside the abandoned truck, MacDonald had driven through the tollbooth in Gardiner and later had turned around and become northbound, ending at the Pittsfield rest area. There is speculation that MacDonald may have realized then that he had the wrong trailer.

MacDonald’s parents say their son was too experienced in his job to have taken the wrong trailer and they believe something may have happened to him in Hermon.

“He was very responsible as far as his work was concerned,” his mother said. “It just isn’t like my son to take an empty trailer because he was very conscientious of his job.”

Police found the abandoned tractor-trailer unlocked and the key in the ignition. Inside the cab were MacDonald’s cell phone, a $500 check, the toll receipts, and MacDonald’s driving logs.

MacDonald is 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighs about 250 pounds, has balding dark brown hair and blue eyes. Anyone with information about MacDonald should call the state police at (800) 452-4664.