Tidwell was last seen in Marion, Kentucky on December 14, 1981. He told his wife he was going to see a man in Sturgis, Kentucky about a job. He may have planned to buy alcohol there, and may have been intoxicated at the time of his disappearance. He left driving a yellow 1974 Chevrolet Bel Air with the front windshield cracked on the right side, rust spots in the front, and the Kentucky license plate number AKV 215.

Tidwell had previously worked as a river deckhand for several river-related businesses, but he was unemployed at the time of his disappearance and had applied for unemployment compensation. The man he was supposed to see may have been a foreman from a river industry business in southern Illinois, but he has never been identified. Tidwell had no criminal record and no indications of trouble in his life. He left behind a wife and two young daughters. He was declared legally dead some time after his disappearance. His case remains unsolved.