WYOMING, Mich. — As loved ones prepare to gather for Thanksgiving, one West Michigan family says they will not do so until they can celebrate with their father.
“It just doesn't seem real,” said Amanda McCarty. “We’re just numb in the fact that there is [sic] no leads, like it just doesn't make any sense to us.”
McCarty’s father, Raymond Tarasiewicz, 69, has been missing since Monday according to the Wyoming Police Department.
She says her mother was one of the last people to see him, which was at their home around 7:30 a.m.
A neighbor reportedly saw him later that morning in their driveway.
McCarty says her father often walked to a nearby Speedway or Shell gas station for snacks, so it’s possible he was heading in the direction of 36th Street and Burlingame Avenue, or 28th Street and Wyoming Avenue.
He has no phone or vehicle.
“He’s never been known to not take his cell phone, so it's really peculiar,” said McCarty. “Nothing looked weird, nothing in the house… he left it normal. He took his house key and so to me, it seemed like he thought he'd be back.”
Tarasiewicz is 6-foot-2 inches tall, roughly 225 pounds, with white hair and a white beard. He also has early signs of dementia.
He wears black prescription glasses and may be wearing a blue jacket and blue jeans.
“He just is just a genuine good guy and he loves his family,” said McCarty. “I don't think he has an enemy. I honestly think everyone that comes into him gets a good laugh out of him.”
According to McCarty, family, friends, and police have extensively searched Wyoming and Grandville by foot, drone, and car over the past two days, with few clues as to where he may be.
She asks anyone with information, like a possible security camera spotting, to report it to police in Wyoming.
“It's overwhelming of how many people are out there with an eye out [but] also, confusing that he hasn't been seen,” said McCarty. “If anyone sees him say, ‘Hey, Ray!’ He might seem disoriented, but I have faith that he would respond if someone called him by his name and asked if he needed help.”
Anyone who sees Tarasiewicz is asked to contact the Wyoming Department of Public Safety at 616-530-7300 or their local police agency.
