Missing Elk Grove man’s family issues call for community-wide search party Saturday
Family and friends of the elderly Elk Grove man now missing for nearly a month following a morning walk are calling on Elk Grove and Sacramento residents to aid in an expansive search Saturday.
The family of Kiflit Ghebremariam, in an open letter on Thursday, asked for “anyone who can volunteer their time to help in the search efforts in their immediate surroundings, neighborhood and workplaces” from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.
“We are asking for the whole Elk Grove and Sacramento community to take their time and search” shopping centers, restaurants and parks; alleyways, streets and schools; parks and homeless shelters, the emailed appeal read.
The family’s search party will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday as it has these past weeks at Oasis Community Park, 8015 Poppy Ridge Road, off Whitelock Parkway in Elk Grove.
The extraordinary call speaks to the desperation of the dozens who have looked for weeks to no avail, despite nearly daily searches on foot, pleas across social media and reported potential sightings from Elk Grove to Rancho Cordova to Natomas.
Ghebremariam, 77, has not returned to his home in Elk Grove’s Stonelake neighborhood since his morning walk Aug. 9. He has dementia and is considered at-risk.
He is a Black male, 5-foot-8 and 170 pounds.
He is bald with a white mustache in photos, but likely has lost weight and grown additional facial hair after weeks on the street and in the elements.
Ghebremariam’s family, friends and members of the broader East African community in Elk Grove, the Bay Area and beyond have gathered nearly every day for weeks at Oasis Community Park in Elk Grove to embark on efforts to find the missing man.
Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen met Aug. 25 with Ghebremariam’s family outside Elk Grove City Hall as dozens of others carried large posters of Ghebremariam’s photo and expressed frustration with police and city leaders for their perceived lack of urgency in searching for the man.
Singh-Allen, who has issued her own public pleas for help, also joined family in search efforts from Oasis Park.
Meantime, Elk Grove police continue to post photos on department social media accounts and say they are still actively looking for Ghebremariam.
“We are looking for any small bit of information that can lead us down that track — any information to find him and reunite him with his family,” Elk Grove police spokesman Jason Jimenez said last week.
Anyone with information on Ghebremariam’s whereabouts can call the Elk Grove Police Department at (916) 714-5115.
This story was originally published September 2, 2021 at 7:30 PM.
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