Missing man’s family seeks public’s help
Peter Recchia hasn’t been seen since Oct. 3
BRIDGEPORT — Peter Recchia has been missing for nearly a month, and his family is worried.
“The past month has been a living nightmare,” Frank Recchia, a reporter for News 12 Connecticut, said of his brother, who has medical and mental health issues. “Not knowing where a loved one with special needs is — it’s like a father missing an infant child, because you know they can’t help themselves.”
Peter Recchia has been missing since Oct. 3. The 59yearold is about 5foot11 and 150 pounds, with gray hair, green eyes and rectangular eyeglasses.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call Detective Jimmy Lacasse at 8606384134.
Hamden police are investigating a reported sighting of Recchia.
His daughter, Bunny Rodriguez, and his brother Frank were at Funchal Americana Buffet Tuesday to raise awareness about the case — and some cash.
Rodriguez said that while she appreciates all the work the Middletown police have put into looking for her father, “unfortunately they don’t have the resources or the manpower to continue a search for so long, especially with no leads and other cases.”
The family is looking to fund a search privately or get in touch with a retired detective or investigator who could help out, she said.
Rodriguez, a social worker, said looking for her missing father “feels like I’m doing the work that I always do with my own clients.”
“I feel like I have a goal and I need to do what I can to meet that goal and do what I can to save a life,” Rodriguez said.
A Facebook page has been created to aid the search.
Frank Recchia said the family was humbled after Funchal’s Kathleen Reyen Ceccarelli approached them with the idea for Tuesday’s event.
As he stood inside the eatery around noon, a steady stream of Bridgeport officials and emergency personnel approached to offer their good thoughts and support.
“We were not planning vigils or press conferences or anything like that,” Frank Recchia said. “When Kathleen put this together, we were very moved and I think it actually will be very useful in getting the word out about Peter.”
He said his brother’s case reminds him of one from early in his career — the 1993 roadside killing of Michael Jordan’s father, whose funeral he covered in North Carolina.
He’s hoping Peter’s case will have a different outcome.
“I fear something like that happened, where my brother was a target of somebody on the road,” Frank Recchia said. “Somebody who just maybe robbed him and killed him and dumped his body somewhere, that’s my worst fear.
“If he is dead, we want to find him and bring him home, but we hope and pray that he’s alive,” Frank Recchia said.