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Iowa family fears missing man dead

Andy Hoffman, The Hawk Eye, Burlington, Iowa –

The daughter of a Burlington man who disappeared almost two weeks ago now fears he may be dead.

“I’m not giving up hope,” said Maria Gonzalez. “But I am concerned about his well-being. It’s hard for me to say, but I don’t believe he is alive anymore. No one has seen him, and it’s been way too many days since he disappeared.”

Gonzalez’ father, Alfredo “Fred” Rodriguez, walked out of their Burlington residence at about 11 a.m. Sept. 15. He had just borrowed $20 from a friend, saying he was going for a walk.

However, he never returned and, despite continued efforts by family, friends and police to find him, no one has seen or heard from him since that day.

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“He has never done anything like this before,” said Gonzalez, whose voice indicated frustration and despair during a telephone conversation Wednesday. “I keep asking myself why he left. What’s he trying to escape from? And the only answer I can come up with is that he wasn’t trying to leave – something bad happened to him and he is dead.

“I just don’t think we will find him alive. It hurts to say that because he is my dad and I want him back. But what else am I suppose to think?”

Burlington police have followed several leads in the search for Rodriguez, but have had no luck tracking down the 49-year-old man.

“We have received some reports about people seeing him,” said Sgt. Chad Zahn, a Burlington police spokesman. “We checked them out, but nothing turned up.”

Zahn said Rodriguez’ personal information has been submitted to the National Crime Information Center.

“If any (law enforcement official) puts information about him in the computer, it will come back that he is a missing person,” Zahn said, indicating he does not think police have had any contact with Rodriguez since the information was entered into the computer last week.

In addition to handing out fliers and scouring local Burlington taverns, churches and other locations Rodriguez has been known to frequent, the family has tried to track down possible sightings in other communities.

“We got some information from the police that he may have been seen in Columbus Junction,” she said. “We went there, but no one had seen him. We were looking for a bar called Amigos, but they told us that was in Fort Madison. We drove down there and passed out fliers, but no one had seen him there either.”

Gonzalez said they have tried to contact relatives in other states, but nothing has materialized.

Gonzalez said her father had a recent stroke, which may have hindered his ability to think.

“I would just ask everyone to keep their eyes open and if they see anything to call me or the police,” she said. “I’m getting so much help from people I know and even people I don’t know. A lot of people want to help find him, but they don’t know what to do. I just tell people to keep their eyes open and maybe he will turn up. I hope so. He’s my dad.”

Those with any information about Rodriguez’ whereabouts, are encouraged to call Gonzales at (319) 752-9042 or the Burlington Police Department.

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