[Endangered Missing: Kazim Uyaroglu, 24 - New York City, New York (landed at JFK airport on Friday January 15th and hasn't been seen - residence in Cliffside Park, NJ - may need medical attention and medication)]
A 24-year-old borough man with emotional health issues landed at John F. Kennedy Airport on Friday night and hasn't been seen since, his family said.
Kazim Uyaroglu has probably not been taking his medication and was deemed by Turkish authorities unfit to travel alone, said his mother, Kamile Uyaroglu. She was told that he was escorted on a flight and should have landed in New York about 11 p.m. Friday.
Uyaroglu had been in Turkey for a family wedding and on New Year's Eve, he left his home there and went to a police station, telling them his visa had expired and he needed to get back to the United States. Authorities supposedly put him on a bus to Istanbul, she said.
His mother went to a U.S. consulate in Turkey on the morning of Jan. 4 seeking her son, but was told she could get only limited information due to privacy issues. She said Uyaroglu had gone to the consulate hours later. "I was there Monday morning; he was there Monday afternoon," she said.
Uyaroglu was taken to an immigration detention center in Turkey, where she visited him and found that "he didn't want anything to do with me." There, he was found unfit to travel alone. She gave authorities phone numbers and an email address, but she misspelled the email address and a notification that he would be taken back to the United States was not delivered. She did not anticipate him returning so quickly.
On Thursday, she searched the airport for him, and verified that he had arrived on Friday, said a family friend, Maria Gesualdi. Authorities also were able to pull video showing Uyaroglu in the airport, then later exiting the terminal, and crossing the street, Gesualdi said.
"He was standing outside for a little bit, and then he crossed the street,'' she said. "He has no phone, he has no money, he has nothing."
Bill Maer, spokesman for Cliffside Park, said borough police had reached out to law enforcement in New York, hospitals and other places that Uyaroglu might be. He said video surveillance showed that Uyaroglu arrived at 10:40 p.m. on Friday and left the airport terminal.
"The Cliffside Park Police Department is investigating, and trying to determine the individual's whereabouts,'' Maer said.
Uyaroglu's mother said she did not blame the Turkish or American authorities and said the officials had been helpful to her son. But she said she wished they had tried to call her so a family member could have been at the airport to pick him up.
Uyaroglu is 5 feet 11 inches, about 125 pounds and has patches of hair missing from his scalp and the back of his head from a previous burn injury. He is believed to be wearing a gray North Face jacket.
Anyone who has information is asked to call the Cliffside Park Police Department at 201-945-3600.
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Respectfully,
Amy Kinney
Missing Alerts Manager
Board of Director
LostNMissing, Inc.
501c(3) Nonprofit
LostNMissing Inc., assists law enforcement and families of missing with missing persons case numbers assigned by official law enforcement agencies. We are an all-volunteer national tax-exempt organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (the "code") and qualifies as a public supported organization under Sections, or Categories: P99 (Human Services - Multipurpose and Other N.E.C.); M99 (Other Public Safety, Disaster Preparedness, and Relief N.E.C.); I01 (Alliance/Advocacy Organizations). LostNMissing is organized and incorporated under the laws of the State of New Hampshire. We never charge a fee for our services.
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