The acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday that an employee who has been missing for a month was not passed over for a promotion before his disappearance, as police had previously reported.
Timothy Cunningham, a 35-year-old epidemiologist at the agency whose parents live in Waldorf, Md., mysteriously disappeared on Feb. 12.
Atlanta Police said that Cunningham was told he wouldn't receive a promotion a week before he went missing.
"As many of his colleagues...have pointed out, this information is incorrect," acting CDC Director Dr. Anne Schuchat said in a statement released Monday.
Schuchat said that Cunningham was promoted to commander effective July 1 "in recognition of his exemplary performance in the U.S. Public Health Service," a uniformed corps in the Department of Health and Human Services.
She also praised Cunningham for his excellence.
"We have not given up hope that he will soon be found," Schuchat wrote.
Cunningham left his office February 12 saying he was not feeling well.
His concerned parents found his wallet, car and beloved pet all abandoned at Cunningham's Atlanta area home. The Harvard-trained epidemiologist has not been seen since.
A reward for information about Cunningham has grown to more than $20,000.
