'Somebody knows something': Deputies continue search for Victor man last seen in July
Nov 27, 2024
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — Deputies in Ontario County renewed pleas for help to the community Wednesday afternoon amid their ongoing search for 83-year-old Reginald Vardon. The Victor man was last seen July 15 around noon.
"He had visited ESL Federal Credit Union on School Street in the Village of Victor. he left that business and walked northbound on School Street. He was seen on camera crossing Main Street, or Route 96 Victor across from School Street and then he disappeared out of site from those cameras," Sheriff David Cirencione said.
Provided: OCSO
Provided: OCSO
He was first reported missing July 17, just two days before his birthday.
Missing Person: Have you seen Reginald Vardon?
Authorities described Vardon, who's also known to friends as "Reggie," as a "vulnerable adult with memory loss." He was last seen wearing a white hat, yellow long-sleeved shirt, black pants, black shoes, and a teal-colored backpack, just as he's pictured above.
According to the Ontario County Sheriff's Office, Vardon is approximately 5'01" and 130 lbs. He has grey hair and brown eyes. Deputies believe him to be on foot.
"As of today, there's been no activity on Mr. Vardon's bank accounts since several days before he went missing," Cirencione said Wednesday. "There's been no cellphone activity and no signs that he has purchased any new cell phones and used those in any way."
Anyone with information is asked to call (585) 394-4560.
"We do not know where Mr. Vardon is. We don't know if he's missing by his own accord, or if he's fallen to some ill will at the will of other people, we just don't know at this point. We do believe that someone out there knows something," Cirencione said.
In terms of the search itself, Cirencione said that while Vardon has previously visited family in Chicago and San Francisco, this was not the case this time. Deputies made contact with those family members and came up at a dead end. His last known contact with anyone was with ESL staff July 15.
"There's a couple of friends that he had at the apartment complex that saw him earlier that morning and a couple days before and there were a couple of things that were bothering him a little bit. He was having some issues with the amount of rent that he was paying for his apartment and there were some other people that were trying to offer him assistance with - just kind of some life skills because he was going on 83 at the time and he wasn't really open to those offers," Cirencione explained. "To that point, we don't know if that played into why he was trying to get out of the area and continue his independence. It's possible that he felt that he was being closed in on too much. But even if that were the case, it certainly seems that after this amount of time he would have checked in."
Cirencione also noted they searched area hospitals and kept in contact with maintenance at his apartment complex, which has so far come up with nothing. His apartment has also since been cleaned out and turned over to management at the complex.
Investigators said Vardon was known to frequent the Auburn Trail. Teams searched the trail area numerous times, but did not find anything.
"We take probably a couple hundred missing persons cases each year," Cirencione began. "To have no sign of anybody from the middle of the day in a heavily populated business area and just vanish? I don't remember - only one case where that was...that's been 12 years and sadly that turned out to be a domestic homicide."
During Wednesday's press conference, Vardon's daughter, Kim Kaiser spoke on the search efforts, thanking the community for continuing to follow this case.
"Dad, if you're out there and you hear about this, just please let somebody know that you're ok," she said.
She also started a Facebook page in hopes of spreading the word and encouraged anyone with information to use it accordingly.