Through Jeroslyn Jovonn
July 8, 2025
A local family in Calera, Alabama receives support in their search for a beloved Patriarch that disappeared shortly after arrival from Kenya.
A Kenyan family in Calera, Alabama, receives strong support from their local community while looking for their family patriarch, which was missing a few days before the graduation of his grandson, a celebration where he had traveled to participate.
Reuben Waithaka, 72, was last seen at a gas station where he went to Latte a day after arrive in Calera to attend high school stops of his grandson, CNN Reports. However, surveillance images show that Waithaka is waving to a store visitor before entering the toilet and went out a back door, where he was never seen again.
“He just came here. And then he was gone,” said Waithaka’s grandson, Byron Barua, 17.
It was seven weeks since the Kenyan tourist was missing. Despite extensive efforts, including missing person flyers, helicopters, drones, off-road vehicles, tracking dogs and infrared-loft cameras, the police still have to find a trace of him.
“Sometimes I regret why I asked my parents to come for the graduation of my son. I wonder:” What else would I have done? “, Said Waithaka’s son, Willington Barua.” Maybe if I hadn’t invited them, my father would still be with us. “
The family suspects that Waithaka may have had non-diagnosed dementia or another condition caused by the stress to be away from home and the 18-hour journey from Kenya to Alabama. During the second stage of his journey, from Frankfurt to Atlanta, he became incoherent and agitated, so that a stewardess was needed to help his wife keep him sitting.
Upon arrival in Alabama, Waithaka appeared Confused and fell as he tried to use an air part in the wrong way, his knee injured. His weak from that fall can be seen on the security images of the gas station. Then Barua took his father to the er, where a CT scan and bloodwork of the head normally returned.
After a nap and breakfast, Waithaka is said to have stepped outside, and his family had not seen him since. He accepted two journeys from motorists, with the latter dropping him at the gas station where he was last seen. A resident of the nearby later reported that someone who corresponds to the description of Waithaka, a hunting club near the gas station. The woman told the police that he crawled under a gate and disappeared in the forest.
The police have carried out several search for the surrounding wooded areas and the locals interviewed several times. Researchers believe that Waithaka might have made a ride at the truck stop behind the gas station, which may make the area completely abandoned.
Waithaka became 73 on 3 June. Byron studied only a few days after his grandfather was missing, without being there to celebrate.
“It was tragic, but I tried not to let it come to me or bring myself all the way down,” said Byron about his missing grandfather. “I pray to stay safe.”
Waithaka’s son, who owns a truck company, says he places flyers at every rest stop and a truck stop that he visits. When he drives past a wooded area, he slows down and scans the trees hoping to spot his father.
Every telephone conversation brings an overflow of fear and hope as he is scrapping for the possibility of answers. Not knowing something about his father’s place of residence is the most difficult part, he said.
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