Elmhurst Police Yet To Release Photo Of Missing Man

ELMHURST, IL — Last week, media reported that 100 volunteers were searching for Jake Cefolia, a United Airlines executive from Elmhurst, who went missing earlier in the month. The search was at Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve in Lemont, where authorities said the 49-year-old often ran.

The Elmhurst Police Department has been the point of contact for the investigation into Cefolia's disappearance. The situation attracted a burst of media attention last Friday, but has been quiet since.

Asked Thursday whether the police department had released a photo of Cefolia to help with the search, city spokeswoman Kassondra Schref said in an email that it had not. Elmhurst Patch has left messages about why this is the case.

The city also has not posted any item to Facebook or issued a news release about Cefolia's disappearance. On Thursday, Schref said Cefolia remained missing, but the police had no further information to release to the public. Photos of Cefolia have been posted by media.

According to media reports, Cefolia was last seen Aug 6, with a forest preserve official saying Cefolia often ran at Waterfall Glen. His car was found at the park, ABC7 Chicago reported last week. A forest preserve spokesman could not be reached for immediate comment.

Cefolia is a senior vice president of worldwide sales for United Airlines.

His friends have set up the "Help find Jake Cefolia" Facebook page. As of Friday, it had 102 members.

Someone reported on Facebook that glasses were found at a halfway point bench. Cefolia was known to wear glasses. The discovery prompted a person on the "Help find Jake Cefolia" page to write a post seeking more help.

"What we need most now is to continue spreading the word and having more people join the search! The new finding of the glasses could be close to where he went missing. His life could still be saved," the person wrote.

Another person wrote late Thursday, "For those waiting for updates, as far as I know there hasn't been an organized search since August 14-15. We need to organize one now!"

In 2018, Cefolia was promoted to his current position at United Airlines, where his job is leading a sales force of 725, according to a news release announcing the promotion. He has been with the company since 2007. He reports to the airline's president. He previously worked at Northwest Airlines and British Airways, according to his LinkedIn page.

His Facebook page says he went to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, where he studied management. He attended high schools in Covington, Ohio, and Baton Rouge, La., according to his Facebook page.