Parents Of Missing Chicago Man Remain Hopeful He Will Be Found Alive

Caption: One of many fliers for missing 27-year-old John Cunningham of Palos Park and most recently Chicago’s North Side, displayed at a local business. Cunningham Jr. disappeared from his parents’ home in Palos Park on Oct. 30.

With Sunday marking the one-month anniversary of their 27-year-old son’s mysterious disappearance, John and Christine Cunningham believe that their boy is still alive processing whatever inner turmoil caused him to leave.

John Cunningham Jr., who spent his teen years in the south suburbs and most recently lived on Chicago’s North Side in the Lake View neighborhood, walked away from his parents’ home in Palos Park without shoes, jacket, money or his cell phone on Oct. 30.

Landing a lucrative job with a New York-based finance company after finishing law school last year, Cunningham Jr. was distraught and had quit his job by phone the morning that he vanished.

The Cook County Sheriff’s police and scores of law enforcement officers have turned the Palos forest preserves upside down looking for the missing Chicago man. On Monday, those efforts were renewed again with an air search of the Cook County Forest Preserve near where Cunningham Jr. was last seen near 104th Street and McCarthy Road.

“[The Cook County Sheriff’s Police] told me they’d be sweeping the woods again over the weekend if they had time,” John Cunningham Sr. said. “It is completely clear now that the leaves have fallen, and if they couldn’t see him [from the air] he’s probably not out there.”

In the weeks after John Jr. disappeared, sightings were reported all over the south suburbs. A prayer vigil was held at Our Lady of the Woods in Palos Park. Friends started a “Find John Cunningham Jr. Facebook page.”

The missing Chicago man’s parents are offering a $10,000 reward for the safe return of their son. They have also hired private detectives to aid in the search. The latest addition is a retired U.S. Secret Service special agent.

According to John Cunningham Sr., the retired Secret Service special agent has extensive connections with law enforcement agencies throughout the country.

“He’s the second detective whose told me that if they haven’t found [John Jr.’s] body by now, he’s still out there,” Cunningham Sr. said. “Johnny doesn’t have to come home until he wants to. I’ll be honest with you, two days into it I told my wife this will be months. Nothing is going to happen in two days.”

Sandburg High School alum Bill Rancic, the first season winner of Donald Trump’s reality TV series “The Apprentice,” has also reached out to the Cunningham family. Both Rancic and his celebrity wife, Guilana Rancic, of the E!’s “Fashion Police,” are working to bring national exposure to John Jr.’s disappearance.

John Sr. and Christine spent their first Thanksgiving without their boy volunteering at a Chicago soup kitchen serving dinners to the homeless, which John Sr. described as “really nice.”

He and his wife are “handing off” their worry, fear and anxiety for their missing son to their many spiritual advisors.

“We’re trying to keep our head together,” Cunningham Sr. said. “Sometimes we’re really down. It’s a roller coaster. We’re keeping it on a more spiritual level. It’s God’s will, whatever it is.”

What to Read Next

• Authorities Try Again With Air Search for Missing Chicago Man
• After Two Weeks, Still No Trace Or Word From Missing Chicago Man
• ‘Keep Johnny In Your Prayers’: Supporters Gather To Pray for Missing Man
• Parents Offer $10,000 Reward For Safe Return of Missing Son
• Missing Chicago Man Possibly Sighted in Worth, Father Says

This story has been updated with new information.