Father of Missing Chicago Man: 'You Just Don't Disappear'

Caption: Flier for missing Chicago man, John Cunningham Jr. Cunningham told his mother he was going for a walk when he left his parents home in Palos Park on Oct. 30.

Hundreds of police officers, professional searchers, search and rescue dogs and helicopters searched the Palos forest preserve area throughout the weekend for any trace of a North Side man missing for almost five days.

John Cunningham Jr.’s father told Patch that his 27-year-old son left their Palos Park home shortly before 11 a.m. Thursday, dressed only in a gray T-shirt and a pair of black sweatpants in a fit of work-related frustration.

His son did not take his wallet or cell phone with him.

“He works at home so he wears sweatpants and goes barefoot. He just left after talking to his boss,” said John Cunningham Sr., who was not at home when his son walked away from the house. “He likes to walk and might walk for an hour or so and come home. He was definitely frustrated when he left.”

After earning his law degree at University of Virginia last year, Cunningham Jr. moved to the Lake View neighborhood on Chicago’s North Side. He was visiting his parents’ home in Palos Park when he went missing.

“Sometimes he wants to come over and eat mom’s cooking. We love it when he comes over,” Cunningham Sr. said. “He’s an only child so we’re close to him. It’s basically just us.”

The father described his son as a devout Catholic who graduated from Marist High School. Cunningham Jr. had a high-level education and executive job. His father wonders if the pressures of his son’s job may have become too much for him to handle. The missing man was also dealing with some personal issues. A woman he had formerly dated recently became pregnant. The child was not Cunningham Jr.’s, but the young man insisted on providing emotional and financial support to the woman, his father said.

”He loved her as a friend and he had offered to help support the child,” Cunningham Sr. said. “That’s a lot of pressure to put on yourself, but that’s the kind of guy he was.”

Over the weekend, Cook County Sheriff’s Police set up their mobile command post at Lake Arrowhead in Palos Park, overseeing hundreds of professional searchers and local police officers.

The county’s homeland security office also fanned out across the forest preserve area on Hummers and all-terrain vehicles, searching for any sign of the missing Chicago man.

Sheriff’s police are leading the ground and air search because Cunningham Jr. was last seen near 104th Avenue and McCarthy Road on county land on Thursday. Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart also stopped by the Cunninghams’ home in Palos Park.

“The county people have been impressive,” Cunningham Sr. said. “Sheriff Dart came to our house and told us, ‘We are sparing no expense. This is highest priority we have right now.’”

Police helicopters equipped with thermal-imaging equipment hovered over the forest treetops in an attempt to detect the missing man’s body heat.

Palos Park Police Chief Joe Miller told Patch that on Saturday, the imaging equipment picked up two heat fields from the air, one of which turned out to be remnants of a bon fire, the other a big pile of leaves.

Search-and-rescue dogs also tracked Cunningham Jr.’s scent, which ended at the Post Rail Farms development at 123rd Street and 108th Avenue, the police chief added.

Cunningham Sr. said about 100 volunteers from three local churches along with the young man’s friends also searched the Palos Park neighborhood passing out fliers.

His son’s friends thought they saw a man resembling Cunningham Jr. running past them in the area 125 Post Road in Palos Park around 11 p.m. Saturday . Although the man was wearing shoes and a hooded sweatshirt, his father said that residents told him they have been leaving shoes and coats out for his son.

Cook County Sheriff’s Police directed the air and ground search to that area but called it off early Sunday morning. The search resumed later that day.

Cunningham Sr. thinks it’s a good sign that his son hasn’t turned up because it means he’s not lost in the forest preserve.

The young man’s parents are touched by the “beauty of people” and the community’s outpouring of support. Neighbors and strangers told Cunningham Sr. they are leaving their garage doors open in case his son needs a place to get out of the cold.

Authorities have also visited the Poor Clare Monastery on Will-Cook Road in Palos Heights several times, thinking Cunningham Jr. may be drawn there because of his deep religious faith. The sisters told police the missing man hasn’t come to them.

“There is a point where he could have sought solace in a church or monastery who are letting him chill out,” Cunningham Sr. said. “You just don’t disappear.”

The search will resume on Monday.

How you can help: Police are asking residents to check their garages, storage sheds, RVs, etc. for any sign of John Michael Cunningham Jr. Runners and dog walkers are asked to keep an eye out for Cunningham Jr. on the forest preserve trails.

Anyone with information about Cunningham’s whereabouts is asked to contact the sheriff’s police at 708-865-4896 or call 911.