Mystery Deepens Over Missing South Side Elderly Man

Two views of Mateo Fernandez, 78, who was reported missing from the West Lawn neighborhood on July 17. Mateo may be in need of medical help.

The last time Ricardo Fernandez saw his father, Mateo, he was lying down in bed watching television.

“It was around 10:30 in the evening, July 16,” Ricardo Fernandez said. “I went to say goodnight. There was nothing unusual. He closes his door at night when he goes to bed.”

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The next morning -- July 17 -- his mother went to give his 78-year-old father his medication, but when she opened his father’s bedroom door, the room was empty.

“She called me and we looked all over the house for him,” Ricardo Fernandez said. “We went outside to see if he was in front of the house. There was nothing out of the ordinary. All of the doors were locked.”

Mateo Fernandez has not been seen since he disappeared from his home near 62nd Street and Karlov in West Lawn. On Friday, the elderly man, who Chicago police consider a high risk missing person, will be gone for two weeks. He did not take his wallet, ID, or any money that his family knows of.

Ricardo says his father doesn’t have Alzheimer’s or dementia, but he does have diabetes and a kidney transplant, but if his blood sugar gets too high or too low, he could appear to have dementia.

“He hasn’t had his insulin or other medications since July 16,” Ricardo said. “He doesn’t normally walk out of the house. My mother and father weren’t arguing.”

Ricardo said he moved back in with his folks after his father became ill in 2009. His father was used to being the workhorse in the family and was retired after working many years at a Chicago food company that made pork rinds.

Finding out that he was diabetic and then having a kidney transplant took a ”big toll” on his father.

“I started doing the things he normally did, like mowing the lawn and grocery shopping,” Ricardo said.

Prior to his disappearance, Ricardo says his father had an encouraging medical exam.

“He recently had bloodwork and everything was going well,” his son said. “His doctor was even talking about weaning him off of insulin and giving him pills, and then this.”

Ricardo says his family doesn’t know what possessed Mateo to walk away from home. Most of his father’s friends have passed away, or moved back to Mexico.

Since his father went missing, Ricardo, his two brothers and relatives have gone out everyday to search for Mateo, who’s described as a male Hispanic, 5-feet, 6-inches tall, 140 pounds, with gray hair, brown eyes, and a medium complexion. He has a large scar on his chest. Mateo was last seen wearing a white T-shirt, navy blue pants and brown sandals.

The last credible sighting was at 159th Street and Pulaski Road on July 21. A couple spotted a man matching Mateo’s description, whose picture had been broadcast the night before on local TV news stations. The couple immediately called 911.

“We did talk to the couple who spotted him,” Ricardo said. “We showed them my father’s picture and flier, and they said it was absolutely him. They described what he was wearing.”

There have been no credible sightings since then. He acknowledges that 159th Street is a long way from 62nd Street and Pulaski. His father could have gotten on bus and ended up near there.

“That’s the part that worries us the most,” Ricardo says. “There are a lot of forest preserves. They may not find him in the high grass. The forest preserve police want to go out with search dogs, but want a more specific area.”

Chicago police do not suspect foul play in Mateo’s disappearance and consider the case a high priority.

“We’re hoping for a positive, peaceful outcome but in this heat …” Ricardo says, his thought trailing off, “which is why we’re desperate to find him. We want to get him checked out at a hospital and back on his medications. Then we’ll ask him why he left.”

If you see Mateo Fernandez, call 911. If you have useful, non-emergency information to share with detectives, call the Chicago Police Central Area Missing Persons Unit at (312) 747-8380.