Missing CDC scientist allegedly told neighbor to delete his phone number a day before disappearance

Ashley May | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Missing CDC employee reportedly gave neighbor strange message A CDC employees that has been missing for more than two weeks apparently said something very weird to his neighbor before he disappeared.

The promising official from the Centers for Disease and Control who went missing over two weeks ago allegedly talked to a neighbor about deleting his cellphone number.

Timothy J. Cunningham, a Harvard-educated epidemiologist who aided the CDC in responses to Ebola and Zika outbreaks, made the unusual comment to Viviana Tory's husband the day before he went missing.

"He told my husband to tell his wife — me — to erase his cellphone number from my cellphone," Tory told CBS.

Days before Cunningham, a commander in the U.S. Public Health Service, went missing, he found out he would not be promoted to branch manager at the CDC, police say.

More: Missing CDC scientist had meeting about being passed over for promotion before disappearance, police say

Cunningham disappeared Feb. 12 after leaving work early at the CDC office in Chamblee, Georgia. He told co-workers he was feeling sick and planned to finish work at home.

More: Rising CDC official seemed to 'evaporate' without a trace

Earlier that day, around 7 a.m., the 35-year-old Cunningham called his sister, who said he sounded different that day. Cunningham called his mother at 9:12 a.m. that day, but she didn't answer. When his family did try to connect, they couldn't and asked a family member to check him at his house. The relative didn't find Cunningham, but did notice his cell phone and car keys were in the house. His dog, Mr. Bojangles, was left unattended. His car sat parked in the garage.

"None of this makes sense," his brother, Anterio Cunningham, told Atlanta's Fox 5. "He wouldn't just evaporate like this and leave his dog alone and have our mother wondering and worrying like this. He wouldn't."

There is $10,000 reward for information leading to charges around the case.

Josh Hafner of USA TODAY and Phillip Kish of WXIA-TV, Atlanta, contributed to this report. Follow Ashley May on Twitter: @AshleyMayTweets