Photo by Wendy Sadoff
If you wondered on Thursday if that was really Charles Pugh on Northwestern Highway in Southfield the answer is: Yes and No.
A van with big lettering "Charles L. Pugh Co." was spotted driving down the road.
Joshua Matkovich, whose father Gar runs the general contracting company in Hazel Park that repairs damaged homes, says there's no relation to the mystery councilman who vanished recently.
In fact, he says, his father is the son-in-law of the company founder Charles Pugh, who hailed from Kentucky and was a decorated World War II Marine. He said his grandfather Pugh died in the 1990s in his 60s.
He says ever since the other Pugh was a TV reporter the company has gotten calls asking for Charles Pugh, often a few times a week.
Since Pugh vanished, he said the company still gets up to two calls a week asking for the councilman.
He said some people are confused when they call. He says he'll clarify and ask: "Are you calling in regards of the councilman and they'll say 'yeah.'"
He said when he clarifies that the councilman is not there "they usually hang up. A lot of times it's a very brief conversation."
Pugh vanished recently and was stripped of his pay and title as president of the city council after he refused to show up for work. His disappearance came amid allegations that he may have had an inapproprate relationship with a teen he knew through a mentoring program.
WDIV recently posted a photo of what was believed to be Pugh, 41, at a coffee shop in Seattle.
