Bunny Rodriguez wants to find her father, a Middletown man who has been missing since October 3.
“I’m just in a state of shock right now,” she said. “I’ve been going through so many emotions, crying and being strong and now I’m at the point of exhaustion,” she said.
Her father, Peter Recchia, was reported missing the afternoon of Thursday, October 3. Hours prior, he matched the description of a man who entered a house in Hamden, police said.
Hamden Police say they responded at 4:15 a.m. on Oct. 3 to a call after a 76-year old woman heard footsteps in her house then found a man sitting at her kitchen table.
Upon arrival, Hamden police say they found the man walking southbound on State Street. Officers determined he wasn’t a danger to himself or others. After a warrant search came up negative, they let him go. An internal investigation is being done to understand the details of the situation more clearly.
Middletown Police say that while Recchia was “reported” missing, a silver alert was not issued until further investigation was done and it wasn’t posted until Oct. 7, which could explain why the warrant search came up empty.
“(Recchia) wouldn't have come up missing or endangered or anything of that nature because it was hours before he had been reported missing,” said Lt. Heather Desmond, Middletown Police.
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Family members want to know why more wasn't done to recognize Recchia’s confused mental state.
“The sad thing is that he opened the fridge and was looking for food, with a blank stare. He clearly was confused and clearly was hungry, said Rodriguez.
Recchia, a 59-year-old father of two, has had a history of mental troubles and was showing signs of confusion before his disappearance.
“I noticed that over that last week or two, he started to be confused a little bit more and I was really worried about his well-being and health,” said Rodriguez.
Recchia has been seen in Durham, Hamden and New Haven.
Police said he was last seen the morning of Oct. 3. Surveillance video shows him walking near an Exxon station on New Haven's State Street. He was wearing a blue T-shirt and jeans.
Rodriguez says she thinks her father has walked the entire distance.
“I just felt he’s in a state, that he’s working on muscle memory. Just walking to places that he’s been, before,” she said.
Police are asking for help finding Recchia and ask anyone with information to call Detective Jimmy Lacasse at (860) 638-4134.
