After 45 days of heart-wrenching silence coming from Kaua‘i about their missing family member Bradford Turek, a family from Cincinnati is offering up to $10,000 for information about the man who was reported missing Jan. 29. On Jan. 25, Turek
After 45 days of heart-wrenching silence coming from Kaua‘i about their missing family member Bradford Turek, a family from Cincinnati is offering up to $10,000 for information about the man who was reported missing Jan. 29.
On Jan. 25, Turek left his rental car at Ke‘e Beach, and it is suspected he went hiking along Na Pali Coast-Kalalau Trail. He has not been heard from since.
“I want to know where he is. For God’s sake, somebody just let me know where he is,” said the 29-year-old’s mother, Janet Turek, from her home in Cincinnati. “We’re desperate to find him. It’s keeping me awake at night.”
Janet Turek, daughter Lauren, and Lauren’s fiancee, Nicholas Perkin, said yesterday that they understand Bradford Turek might have made a fatal misstep on the trail, or he may be enjoying the state park and in hiding.
But, Perkin said, the difficulty for the tight-knit family is not knowing what happened.
“It’s driving them nuts,” he said.
Bradford Turek, who is 6 foot, 3 inches tall, 250 pounds, with blue eyes and brown hair, light complexion and a medium build, is also in need of medication for bi-polar disorder. He may have lost some weight and might have grown a beard, his mother surmises.
Janet Turek was on-island a little over a week ago, hanging up posters of her son and interviewing people who came off the trail at Ke‘e Beach. She hired a private investigator from Cincinnati, and solicited the help of Kaua‘i private investigator Mel Rapozo as well. They were even part of a team that rented a helicopter to search in and around Kalalau Valley.
But their investigation ended up providing only more questions.
According to the family, a backpack was found by an illegal camper near Hanakapi‘ai Beach, around two miles in from Ke‘e. The camper, upon further questioning, unearthed a wallet, buried near Hanakapi‘ai Stream, that held Bradford Turek’s identification and credit card.
“There’s something going on there (that’s) really bizarre,” said Janet Turek.
They asked Kaua‘i Police Department officials to conduct DNA testing on the items found, to see if it was Bradford Turek’s. But KPD officials have yet to do the testing, Janet Turek said.
“The police have been somewhat helpful, but not very much,” said Janet Turek. “Hawai‘i is different. I understand that. But the people (of Kaua‘i) couldn’t have been nicer.”
Bradford Turek’s sister went even further with her depiction of KPD’s help.
“They have had a complete attitude and resistance. It’s almost that they think they’re completely untouchable,” said Lauren Turek via telephone from New York. “They have shown complete indifference to our situation and our plight.”
Perkin, Lauren’s fiancee, said KPD Acting Chief Wilfred Ihu hung up on him when he called to get some answers.
So the Turek family believes the only way to get to the bottom of the man’s disappearance is through offering the reward.
“The information is critical, and it has to be credible,” said Janet Turek.
And it has to be soon. Lauren Turek said the deadline for the information leading to the reward is this Sunday night, March 14.
Meanwhile, KPD officials say they are doing all they can to find the missing visitor.
“It is a difficult situation for KPD and the (state) Department of Land and Natural Resources because of the terrain they’re dealing with,” said Cyndi Mei Ozaki, county public information officer. “But to say they have not been doing all they could to locate Turek is inaccurate.”
Ozaki added that KPD and DLNR officers conducted three searches for Bradford Turek, two via helicopter and one on foot. They talked to people thought to be in the area at the time Bradford Turek went missing, she said. Those searches resulted in no leads.
A meeting is scheduled for today between KPD and DLNR leaders to outline plans on what has been done, and what needs to be done, to find Bradford Turek. Ozaki added that DLNR officials are involved because the area in which KPD is looking is a state park.
But Tarey Low, head of the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement on Kaua‘i, said that, because it is a missing-person case, KPD is the agency responsible for finding Bradford Turek. The DLNR leaders will issue permits if needed, he said.
“KPD is going to coordinate this,” Low added.
Bradford Turek ran from Cincinnati, originally to Maui, the last week of January, while being in a manic episode, his mother said.
He called his family from Maui, and they sent investigators after him. But when the investigators reached Maui, all they found was an empty hotel room, Janet Turek explained.
His family used credit-card information to track his whereabouts, finding out he flew to Kaua‘i and rented a car. That rental car was found Jan. 29 at Ke‘e Beach.
An investigation by private detectives brought up evidence that a man kept Turek company his first mile on the trail Jan. 25. In the ensuing investigation, other people identified Turek as being on or around the Kalalau Trail.
“We know he went in there. We don’t think he came out,” his mother said.
Bradford Turek is described by family members as a gregarious, helpful, kind-hearted person with strong athletic skills and a sharp mind.
“We call him ‘the big teddy bear,'” said Janet Turek.
But without his medication, Turek could still be gregarious, or he could be withdrawn and sullen. There is a possibility he could even become violent, his sister said.
“This illness, unless you experience it,” you can’t understand it, Janet Turek said.
“His sisters are really frantic. We’re a really close family,” she added. “It’s just a mother’s greatest fear.”
Staff Writer Tom Finnegan may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or tfinnegan@pulitzer.net.
