| Almost one year after elderly plumber, Desmond Gillis, disappeared without a trace, relatives are still hopeful of receiving some closure to the situation so as to move on.Gillis, of Lot 64 South Vryheid’s Lust, East Coast Demerara was last seen on October 26, 2012 roaming in the Sophia, Georgetown community. He was 76 years old at the time of his disappearance.Still Missing: Desmond GillisDonna, the eldest of the man’s nine children, recounted that she learnt of her father’s disappearance only after a neighbour of his contacted her with news that her father had left his home the previous day but had not returned.The elderly man had been residing alone in his Vryheid’s Lust home for more than 10 years. For this reason, the neighbours would regularly check on him.From the news that she received, Donna gathered that her father had walked from Vryheid’s Lust and was making his way through the Sophia community when he was questioned as to where he was going by the neighbour who had informed her of her father’s disappearance.The neighbour had reportedly been working in the community when he saw the elderly man passing through.Donna said that to the questions, her father replied that he was going to his deceased sister’s Pineapple Street, East Ruimveldt home to visit relatives.“The friend said that he didn’t looking too nice, like he was exhausted. So he put him in a taxi to go to East Ruimveldt.”Donna said that while he did not visit the family house often, it was not an entirely strange happening. She said that prior to his disappearance; the man had been experiencing a loss of memory and seizures.“He would tell you that he was going to tell you something and then forget what it was. He told me sometimes that he would wake up and forget where he is,” she stated.She said that on one occasion after “catching fits” on the road,Wholesale NHL Jerseys, the elderly Gillis woke up on a hospital bed and questioned what he was doing there.Donna said that two weeks before her father disappeared, she invited him to live with her. She said that the man had initially accepted the invitation but sadly declined to move in when the time came.“He said that he don’t want to live with nobody”.After receiving the news that her father had never arrived at the East Ruimveldt home, nor had he returned to his Vryheid’s Lust home, Donna said that she launched a frantic search but no one seemed to have information that would lead to his discovery.“I check the hospital, the mortuary and Lyken’s Funeral Parlour. And I keep checking but nothing is coming up,” the man’s distraught daughter said.She added that even after lodging a missing person report at the Sparendaam Police Station and placing notices after notices in the newspaper, her father’s whereabouts remain unknown.What is equally unfortunate is the fact that family members were unable to make contact with the taxi driver who supposedly dropped the elderly man to his destination.Family members are now desperately requesting that the taxi driver, whose car Desmond Gillis entered, come forward with any information that could lead to his discovery. Contact can be made on 220-1492/ 651-7080.“We just need the closure. If he’s alive, we want to find him. If he is dead, we want to bury the body.” |
