Authorities Try Again with Air Search for Missing Chicago Man

—Lorraine Swanson contributed to this report

Authorities Monday launched another effort in the search for a Chicago man who went missing after leaving his parents’ home in Palos Park.

Cook County Forest Preserve police, the Cook County Sheriff’s office, and the county’s Department of Homeland Security planned an additional search by air for John Cunningham Jr., missing since Oct. 30. The officers planned the search of a forest preserve on 104th Avenue ahead of any snow anticipated for the area, said Don Parker, spokesman for the Forest Preserve District of Cook County. Cunningham Jr., 27, left his parents’ home without a coat or shoes. He also left behind his cell phone and wallet.

Cunningham Jr. was currently living on Chicago’s North Side in the Lakeview neighborhood. He was visiting his parents when he was last seen at 10:45 a.m. Oct. 30, near 104th Avenue and McCarthy Road in Palos Park. Several weeks have passed, with few developments in the search. Massive ground and air search efforts have yielded few clues to his whereabouts. Dogs used in the search lost his scent at Post Rail Road in Palos Park, suggesting that he might have picked up a ride. His parents are offering a $10,000 reward for the safe return of their son.

The morning he disappeared, he was distraught after quitting his job with a New York finance company by phone. The recent law school graduate also declared that he no longer wanted to be a lawyer.

Friends and family two weeks ago said they believe he is still alive, but likely greatly endangered.

Private investigator Paul Ciolino called Cunningham Jr. ”not your run-of-the-mill, disappeared guy.

“I think he disappeared because of an emotional trauma,” he said, “and for whatever reason he can’t find his way back.”

Anyone with information about John Cunningham Jr.’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Cook County Sheriff at 708-865-8397 or private investigator Paul Ciolino at 847-736-8397 or pciolino@pjcinvestigations.com, or call 911.

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