Search for missing Oak Lawn man yields no clues
BY STEVE METSCH AND BOB RAKOW smetsch@southtownstar.com August 20, 2012 6:48PM
Alpha Sabbithi, 27, suffers from depression and was last seen on Sunday, according to a missing person’s alert issued by Oak Lawn police. / Oak Lawn Police Department.
Updated: September 22, 2012 6:22AM
The search continued Monday for a missing Oak Lawn man whose car, wallet and cell phone were found early Sunday in a Cook County forest preserve a few miles from the village.
Oak Lawn police Division Chief Mike Kaufmann said late Monday afternoon that police spent much of the day searching Maple Lake, Saganashkee Slough and the Calumet Sag Channel without finding a trace of evidence regarding the man’s whereabouts.
Police were looking for Alpha Sabbithi, who suffers from depression and was last seen Sunday, according to a missing persons alert issued by Oak Lawn. His 28th birthday was Monday.
Police used boats to search the lake, located near 95th Street and Wolf Road, and the slough, which is west of 104th Avenue and south of 107th Street. They also used a helicopter, on loan from the Cook County Sheriff’s Department and Chicago police, to fly over the Cal Sag from Route 83 to past Harlem Avenue, Kaufmann said.
Friends of the Sabbithi family also searched the forests near the lake and slough Sunday and Monday, said the man’s brother, Victor Sabbithi. Like the police, they found no clues.
“It’s a nice family. I wish we had something to tell them,” Kaufmann said.
Victor Sabbithi said six friends braved heavy rains Monday to walk up and down trails in the forest.
Alpha Sabbithi last was seen wearing brown cargo pants and a black T-shirt with “Hollywood” written on the front in white letters, according to the alert.
He is supposed to start a new job Tuesday, working in the IT department at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, 1100 E. 55th St., where he is enrolled, Victor Sabbithi said.
Police said they found Sabbithi’s car about 4 a.m. Sunday parked near Maple Lake. Inside the locked car, they discovered his cell phone, wallet and car keys, the alert said.
A bloodhound led police to a boat launch for the Saganashkee Slough, the alert said, but Sabbithi was not found.
Police described Sabbithi, of the 4100 block of West 93rd Place, as 5-foot-11 and 160 pounds. He has brown eyes and hair.
Victor Sabbithi said Sunday that Sabbithi recently returned from a monastery in Michigan and was acting calmer since his return.
“It was a personal thing for him,” he said of his brother’s two-week retreat.
He added that his brother, whom he last saw Saturday, was not acting unusual and did not seem disturbed about anything.
Anyone with information regarding Sabbithi’s whereabouts is asked to contact Oak Lawn police at (708) 422-8292.
