Nationwide — Reuben Waithaka, a 73-year-old man from Kenya, disappeared just one day after arriving in Calera, Alabama to attend his grandson’s high school graduation. Weeks later, his family is still searching for answers.
Waithaka and his wife, Elizabeth Barua, landed in the U.S. on May 14. He had brought old family photos and matching African shirts for himself, his son, and grandson. But the next morning, he walked out of his son’s home in Calera and never came back.
“He just got here. And then he was gone,” his 17-year-old grandson, Byron Barua, told CNN.
A doorbell camera showed him stepping outside at 11:08 a.m., dressed in khakis and a checkered shirt. About 30 minutes later, security footage at a gas station nearly two miles away captured him entering the restroom and leaving through the back door.
Investigators later learned that Waithaka got two rides that morning. A neighbor dropped him off a few houses away, thinking it was his destination. Then a delivery driver gave him a ride “to town,” which ended at the gas station. That was the last confirmed sighting.
A witness later told police she saw someone who looked like Waithaka crawling under a gate near a wooded area behind the station. Despite large-scale searches using helicopters, drones, dogs, and heat sensors, no trace was found.
Family members now suspect he may have had undiagnosed dementia. During the flight to Atlanta, he grew agitated and needed help staying seated. After landing, he fell at the airport and injured his knee. He was checked at the ER, but tests came back normal.
Waithaka didn’t carry U.S. dollars or his passport. His Kenyan phone last pinged in Frankfurt. Police reached out to the FBI and have checked local shelters, hospitals, and truck stops, but leads have dried up.
His grandson, Byron, graduated five days later without him. On June 3, Waithaka’s birthday passed quietly. The family had planned to roast a goat and celebrate, but the party was never held.
His son, Willington Barua, keeps posting flyers across towns during trucking routes. His wife has returned to Kenya. The family clings to hope. Every phone call brings both fear and possibility. They just want to know what happened.
“I want to be hopeful, I really do,” said his daughter, Emily Barua. “But sometimes I wonder — did he sit somewhere and fall asleep in the heat and never (wake) up?”