A Berwyn man’s family is pleading with the public to help find him after he went missing last week. Jose G. Arevalo, 83, suffers from Alzheimer’s disease and speaks Spanish only.
“My grandfather’s just an awesome man. Just has a big heart‚” said Arevalo’s granddaughter, Gabriela Zaragoza. She said that as a former mechanic in Little Village, he’d help kids stay out of trouble by teaching them how to fix and tend to cars.
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Often referred to as Guadalupe, Pepe or Don Lupe, Arevalo is 5-foot-7 and weighs 150 pounds. He was last seen Thursday shortly after 12:30 p.m. at their home near 19th Street and Scoville Avenue in Berwyn, his family said. He was wearing a green flannel shirt, a Cubs baseball hat, blue jeans and black shoes, according to police. He may be wearing two different hats.
Arevalo migrated to the United States from Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, in 1974 and has been married to Berta Ruiz for 49 years. They have three children together, as well as 11 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
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His wife describes him as a jokester, a dancer and a music lover who has always been friendly with kids and who loves his big family. He’s also very beloved in his community, she said.
“He’s a great companion,” Ruiz said in Spanish.
Ruiz said Arevalo takes medications for a variety of health problems, not just the Alzheimer’s. He also has hearing problems, high blood pressure and pulmonary emphysema, among other conditions.
Though first diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2014, his condition has deteriorated in the last 3 years, she said, so he needs help getting around and sometimes gets lost inside his own home. His family said his health issues are why they are so worried and desperate to find him.
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“Like we say in Spanish, we’re faltering. It seems as if the earth has swallowed him whole,” Ruiz said.
His family has searched for him since he went missing, organizing search parties and hanging up flyers. Berwyn police has a few leads, the family said.
Arevalo’s former Little Village workshop was located near South Homan Avenue and West 23rd Street, Ruiz and Zaragoza said, so maybe he headed there in a moment of confusion.
Zaragoza said many people have asked them how they can help.
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“Continue sharing the flyers and posters on social media or with family and friends,” she said. And she asked people, especially residents of the Little Village, Cicero and Berwyn, to take a moment and look outside their house, in their backyards and in alleys to see if Arevalo is there.
If anyone sees him, she added, they can take a picture and share it with police so they can use tracking dogs to follow him. Anyone with information is asked to call the Berwyn Police Department at 708-795-5600.
