Reward offered in missing man case

By Angie Thompson, Senior Reporter

TIFTON — New Jersey relatives of a Tifton man missing since Nov. 30 have offered a $1,000 reward for information that will help them and law enforcement locate the missing man. A letter left behind by the man has the family concerned for his well-being.

Roger Ramirez, 30, who lives on Wilson Avenue, was last seen around lunchtime Nov. 30. Jessica Mendieta, who has dated Ramirez for approximately four years, told the Gazette last week that Ramirez dropped her off at her house on Sunday and took her car while she and her mother shopped in Albany. She couldn’t reach him by phone and got no response to text messages. When she returned to Tifton, she found her car parked in front of Ramirez’ house. His cell phone and money were inside the house and nothing inside was amiss. She also found a note handwritten by Ramirez that stated that he loved his family and Mendieta and that he was sorry for things that had happened in his life. He also stated that he felt he didn’t have any options left. She hasn’t heard from him since.

Ronald Ramirez, Roger Ramirez’ brother, and his wife, Nicole, traveled from Roselle Park, N.J., to Tifton Saturday. Ronald Ramirez said he also looked in his brother’s room searching for any clues. He and others also looked at some abandoned properties to see if his brother was hiding.

“We printed some flyers and started putting them up in the area where he lived and at stores and hotels,” Ramirez said. “We have been hoping and praying he’s just hiding out somewhere.”

Ramirez said his family is small and very close. He said his brother has suffered from depression for some time and was having financial difficulties. He said he talked with his brother on Nov. 29 and it is unusual for a week to go by without the two having a conversation.

“I planned to bring him to New Jersey,” Ramirez said. “He was reluctant. He was going to call me Sunday to let me know when to book a flight. He never called.”

Roger Ramirez was employed by Ty Ty Nursery during the week and Longhorn Steakhouse on the weekends. Ronald Ramirez said neither employer had heard from his since his disappearance.

Mendieta said Monday that she checked Ramirez’ cell phone and that he had checked the balance of time he had on it at 2:41 p.m. Nov. 30. She can’t understand how no one saw him between that time and the time she returned to his home from shopping, which was 6 p.m.

“We are hoping somebody saw him,” Mendieta said. “Right now, it’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack. We just want to know he is OK.”

Medietta said she had contacted Ramirez’ friends here and in Florida and that she wants everyone to know that no one will try to bring him back, they just want to know he is well. Ramirez is also said to enjoy the outdoors, especially wooded areas.

Bryan Cavenaugh, a detective with the Tifton Police Department’s criminal investigation division, talked to Ramirez’ family Monday.

“If he’s reading this, he needs to know we aren’t going to make him come home,” Cavenaugh said. “We just need to know that he is OK.”

Ramirez, 30, is Hispanic and described as being approximately 6 feet tall and weighing approximately 200 pounds. He has brown eyes, black hair and a goatee. He also has a scar on his left temple and left eyebrow. Mendieta said she last saw Ramirez wearing a red, long-sleeved pullover shirt, a red Carhartt cap and dark blue jeans.

Anyone with any information is urged to call the Tifton Police Dept. at 382-3132.

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