by Jeroslyn JoVonn
July 8, 2025
An area household in Calera, Alabama is getting assist of their seek for a beloved patriarch who vanished shortly after arriving from Kenya.
A Kenyan household in Calera, Alabama, is receiving robust assist from their local people as they seek for their household patriarch, who went lacking simply days earlier than his grandson’s commencement, a celebration he had traveled to attend.
Reuben Waithaka, 72, was final seen at a gasoline station he hitchhiked to sooner or later after arriving in Calera to attend his grandson’s highschool commencement, CNN studies. Nevertheless, surveillance footage reveals Waithaka waving at a retailer attendant earlier than he went contained in the restroom and out a again door, the place he was by no means seen once more.
“He simply received right here. After which he was gone,” Waithaka’s grandson, Byron Barua, 17, stated.
It’s been seven weeks for the reason that Kenyan vacationer went lacking. Regardless of in depth efforts, together with lacking particular person flyers, helicopters, drones, off-road automobiles, monitoring canines, and infrared heat-seeking cameras, police have but to seek out any hint of him.
“Generally I remorse why I requested my dad and mom to come back for my son’s commencement. I discover myself questioning, ‘What would I’ve carried out in a different way? ’” Waithaka’s son, Willington Barua, stated. “Possibly if I hadn’t invited them, my dad would nonetheless be with us.”
The household suspects Waithaka might have had undiagnosed dementia or one other situation triggered by the stress of being away from dwelling and the 18-hour journey from Kenya to Alabama. Throughout the second leg of his journey, from Frankfurt to Atlanta, he grew to become incoherent and agitated, requiring a flight attendant to help his spouse in conserving him seated.
Upon arriving in Alabama, Waithaka appeared confused and fell whereas attempting to make use of an airport escalator the fallacious manner, injuring his knee. His limp from that fall is seen on gasoline station safety footage. Afterward, Barua took his father to the ER, the place a head CT scan and bloodwork got here again regular.
After a nap and breakfast, Waithaka allegedly stepped outdoors, and his household hadn’t seen him since. He accepted two rides from motorists, with the final dropping him off on the gasoline station the place he was final seen. A close-by resident later reported seeing somebody matching Waithaka’s description enter a looking membership close to the gasoline station. The lady informed police he crawled underneath a gate and vanished into the woods.
Police have carried out a number of searches of the encompassing wooded areas and interviewed native residents a number of occasions. Investigators imagine Waithaka might have caught one other journey on the truck cease positioned behind the gasoline station, probably leaving the world solely.
Waithaka turned 73 on June 3. Byron graduated simply days after his grandfather went lacking, with out him there to rejoice.
“It was tragic, however I attempted to not let it get to me or deliver me down all the best way,” Byron stated of his lacking grandfather. “I pray for him to remain protected.”
Waithaka’s son, who owns a trucking firm, says he posts flyers at each relaxation cease and truck cease he visits. At any time when he drives previous a wooded space, he slows down, scanning the timber in hopes of recognizing his father.
Each telephone name brings a rush of tension and hope as he braces for the potential of solutions. Not figuring out something about his father’s whereabouts is the toughest half, he stated.
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