Police and family mount search and rescue effort
About 100 community members gathered in Fridley on Saturday, September 19 to search for a Mounds View man who disappeared without a trace almost two weeks ago. Members of the African community, families and coworkers gathered at the SuperAmerica station in Fridley to search for him.
Mounds View and Fridley police are seeking information and the public’s help to find Henry T. McCabe.
On September 7, Henry Tobee McCabe’s family reported him missing. McCabe, 32, a Mounds View resident, hasn’t been heard from since he disappeared on Labor Day weekend. A state employee at the Minnesota Department of Revenue (MDR), McCabe moved to the Twin Cities with his wife and two children from California in early 2012.
McCabe’s wife, Kareen W. McCabe, was in California with their two girls, a 19-month-old and a 10-year-old, visiting their grandmother at the time of his disappearance. Kareen returned to Mounds View last week to help search for her husband.
“They [the children] are in California right now with my mother, and I wanted them to be stable,” said Kareen McCabe, an author and writer. “I just tried to stay focused. I try to keep my mind focused on finding him and making sure he is okay.”
McCabe’s family is worried about his “mysterious disappearance.” Reportedly, he was last seen last Sunday at Club Cest La Vie, a dance club located on Highway 65 in Spring Lake Park. Mounds View police suspected that McCabe was given a ride by a friend or someone he knows and then dropped off at a SuperAmerica station on 73 Avenue North in Fridley or along Highway 65 in Spring Park at about 2:15 am, according to Mounds View Police Chief Tom Kinney.
“A whole grown man just disappeared for two weeks, and is no place to be found,” said Magdalene Menyongar, a sales associate at Ann Taylor, who participated in the search. “It is scary for another Liberian. This is a man with a wife and two children. He just vanished.”
McCabe, described as 5’11” tall weighing 175 pounds with brown eyes and short black hair, is said to be friendly and outgoing. Since his disappearance, there has been no explanation why he went missing, and concern has risen within the local Liberian community, his family, and others who knew him. He hasn’t contacted his family and employer, MDR, for almost two weeks.
“The Mounds View Police Department is currently looking for information regarding the disappearance of Henry McCabe. Henry was reported missing by his family last week and we are all concerned for his wellbeing,” authorities said in a released statement.
Last week, Kinney told reporters that they have requested surveillance video footages to determine McCabe’s whereabouts and where he was last seen. On Saturday from 10 am until 2:45 pm, searchers, including family, friends and coworkers directed by the Minnesota Community Policing Services, combed the area along County Rd. H2 without any lead for the missing Mounds View man. Organizers planned another search for next weekend.
Reportedly, police also listened to a voice message left on his wife’s phone that didn’t indicate his location at the time of his call. Investigators are awaiting details of all calls from T-Mobile, and locations from various phone towers before and after he was reported missing.
“Henry is a valuable member of our community. He was involved in the search for Barway [Collins] and plays for East Coast Stars Soccer Team,” said Seyon Nyanwleh, leader of Team Barway, the group formed to search for the missing Crystal City boy early this year. “Henry likes to engage in intellectual discussions and has an opinion on political issues. It is our prayer that we find Henry and bring him back to his family.”
Kareen said if only he [Henry McCabe] could see the number of people that came out to look for him and show their love for him, “he will be overwhelmed, and I hope we can find him so that he can see the [people searching for him].”
“He was walking and his cell phone called me,” Kareen said of the last time she spoke with her husband, “and he made a noise as if [he] was hurt and his cell phone went off. And that was the last time I heard of him.”
“We continue to raise the awareness with the situation of Henry McCabe,” said David A. Singleton, chief executive officer of Minnesota Community Policing Services, a nonprofit that organized the search for McCabe this weekend. “Right now it is a search and rescue. We are hopeful that we can find Henry alive and…bring him home to his family.
“We did run across some things of interest, and we’re having those checked out and analyzed,” Singleton continued. “What we’re doing is to continue investigating and assessing each situation, and following up on each lead, and going through the process of elimination.”
Singleton said he wants to ensure that they use their resources effectively in the search process and try to narrow their search to specific areas. He added that, after two weeks, McCabe’s disappearance is a huge concern.
Anyone with details on the whereabouts of Henry McCabe is asked to contact Mounds View Police Department, 763-717-4070, or the Ramsey County Dispatch Center at 651-484-9155. Fridley Police are also investigating.
Issa A. Mansaray welcomes reader responses to iamansaray@yahoo.com.