Gil Wierschke still missing: "The wondering is hard to deal with"

Eight weeks ago tonight, an elderly Roscoe man went missing. He has not yet been found.

Gil Wierschke wandered from his home around 7:45 p.m. on Monday, August 12, 2024. He apparently walked southwest from the 10000 block of Marblewing Ln., which is south of Roscoe Road, south of Chicory Ridge. The 76-year-old man suffers from Alzheimer’s and police says he may appear confused or disoriented.

More about Gil and the search

• Missing person: Gil Wierschke, Roscoe, IL, since Aug. 12, 2024
• Search continues for missing Roscoe man
• Roscoe man still missing: one month later

On August 14, the Illinois Search and Rescue Council (ISARC), with a bloodhound, tracked his scent to the railroad tracks in the Gleasman Road area south of his home, but the scent disappeared from there.

His wife Cindy Wierschke says, "No one knows but God himself where he went. It has been hard on me, our friends and family. The wondering is hard to deal with."

Deputy Chief Tom Farone of the Roscoe Police Department told us, "This case remains open, and the Roscoe Police Department is investigating all leads and information regarding this case. We encourage anyone who may have additional information to report it to the Roscoe Police Department at 815-623-7338 or the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department non-emergency number at 815-282-2600."

His wife says, "It was about an hour after he took off that it started to get dark out. That and not knowing which way he went made it almost impossible to find him. There are lots of farm fields, and wooded areas around here." His daughter April was told that the oils on the metal railroad tracks may have overpowered any other scent.

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The night Gil disappeared, police searched the area from an airplane, using search lights. They searched the cornfields near his home with heat-sensing drones and dogs and searched within the Hononegah Forest Preserve, near his long-time home at the corner of Blue Spruce Dr and Hononegah Road. Divers checked ponds and a boat with sonar checked the river as far south as Ventura Blvd in Machesney Park. Police searched the area by car, checking empty buildings and barns.

Ground searches were conducted in the area in partnership with the Winnebago County Sheriff's Office, Boone County Sheriff's Office and the Illinois Search and Rescue Council (ISARC). On Sunday, Aug. 24, 2024, more than 40 people met at Roscoe Middle School to form search parties. some calling for him on the Stone Bridge Trail.

"Monday it will be 8 weeks," his wife said last week. "All of a sudden my husband is gone and I don't know if he is dead or alive somewhere. That has been hard to deal with. We have no closure."

People have been speculating furiously on Facebook and other social media, not always kindly toward the family. "Yes, it's strange that nobody knows anything," agrees Cindy. "All I can say is that his family didn't do anything to him."

His daughter April says, "Unlike what Alzheimers is portrayed as, he was coherent. He knew who he was, who his family was, where they lived, etc." He had trouble dressing himself, preparing a meal, and navigating somewhere. But he didn't get mad about it.

A nationwide alert was sent out through NAMUS, the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, on August 27, and posters and social media posts were distributed widely.

Roscoe Deputy Chief Tom Farone told us, "Mr. Wierschke has been entered into NAMUS, and I would hope any agency who had contact with him would check."

His family says, "He was known to walk long distances and may have just wanted to take a walk... No one knows if someone picked him up and gave him a ride."

April says, "He may have received help with a change of clothes or food/water... There are people in this world who would not mind helping with something like that but would not want to call the police." For example, homeless shelter staff say that some clients prefer to stay private.

Psychologist John Delatorre agrees, "It is absolutely possible that anyone who interacted with him did not know the seriousness of him wandering away. Generally speaking, people with dementia type issue such as Alzheimer's can appear to function well enough and some stranger could think he was just 'weird' or 'some old man.'"

Sgt. Joshua Lee says, "This is actually very common to travel long distances.... I helped search for a missing elderly Alzheimer patient who would walk a 6-mile loop every day. He knew every store, every landmark, and every road linked to that loop, but he didn't remember anything about himself, his family, or his past."

Cindy says, "Please just keep praying that he will be found one way or the other. If he's dead, he deserves a proper funeral and his friends and family will have some closure. If he is alive, he needs to be in a memory care facility."