Family Offers Reward for Information That Leads to Finding Josh Rubin

It's been 19 days since Whisk Bakery Cafe's Josh Rubin disappeared, and his family is trying every option available to find him. At a press conference in front of the 70th Police Precinct today, just steps from the last place Josh was seen, his sister Hilarie announced that friends and loved ones are offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to finding him.

"We love Joshua very much, we are devestated that he is missing, and are frustrated that we have been unable to find him after almost three weeks of searching," Hilarie said. "The emotional toll of not knowing where he is, not knowing if he is safe, or cold, or sick, or hungry, or worse, is simply unbearable."

There have been no leads, and the police have been unable to uncover anything about what may have happened.

"The police have checked morgues and precincts and hosptials, and there's been no further information," Hilarie said.

She said she last spoke with Josh on Sunday night, the day before he disappeared, and that he sounded normal and happy, with plans to go out to dinner with friends. She added that he is very close with his family and friends, and is always on the phone with them. He doesn't have a girlfriend, and had slept at his apartment every night.

Additionally, Josh did not have access to his car. He had left it, broken down, at his mother's house in Rhode Island after he attended a wedding. He didn't feel comfortable driving it back to Brooklyn, and left it there to eventually be repaired.

The last phone call Josh made was to increase the bagel order for the cafe for Tuesday morning, a day that only he was scheduled to work.

The family is most concerned that Josh disappeared without his diabetes medication, and that he could be sick somewhere, and people may not know who he is.

"With diabetics," Hilarie explained, "if your blood-sugar gets to a certain level and it's not maintained or taken care of, you can forget who you are, you can forget you're a diabetic, you can go into organ failure. That is at the center of our concerns, and that's why the hospitals are such an important part of our search."

As for reports that Josh was planning to sublet his apartment, the family said they had never heard of Zach Boyce, and neither have Josh's roommates or the police.

"It's very odd to come forward after weeks of his being missing, to bring this information to light," Hilarie said.

In an effort to work every option that is available to them, the family has hired a private investigator. Eric Lopez of Strategic Investigations worked with the NYPD for 21 years, and has been a private investigator for five--in which time he's turned up seven missing people. Lopez said he still thinks Josh is in New York.

"Someone has to have seen him," Lopez said. "Hopefully they come forward. We will continue going out to different locations that haven't been covered, and putting up posters with information about the reward money."

"The areas around where he lives and around his cafe are lively both day and night, and we are hoping that someone has seen something, anything, that can help us find him," Hilarie said. "Our hearts are broken, and we are asking that anyone who has any information call the 70th Precinct."

If you have any information about Josh Rubin, please call the 70th Precinct at 718-851-5560. If you are able to put up more missing posters, we will have a PDF of the new poster with the reward information soon, as will the Find Josh Rubin Facebook page, where you can continue to check for further updates.

UPDATE: Please click here for a PDF of the new missing poster.

This story has been updated to remove a conversation between the family and a Brooklyn Paper reporter.