A frantic search is underway on Tuesday for a 41-year-old man who family members say is at high risk.
Phillip "Hedy" Vasquez from the South Side has been missing since Monday afternoon. His family says he left without medication he desperately needs.
A neighbor's doorbell camera captured images of Vasquez walking from his Roseland home next door to the neighbor's house about noon Monday. A short time later, he leaves the neighbor's and walks down the sidewalk. That is the last his family saw of him.
"Nobody has heard from him. When he left, he left only with the clothes on his back and nothing else," said Mary Ann Vasquez, the missing man's mother.
Relatives were putting up signs throughout the neighborhood on Tuesday in hopes of finding someone who may have a clue about where Vasquez is. He has degrees from MIT and Harvard and has been working as a private tutor until a recent seizure caused a brain injury and nearly killed him. He is now taking anti-seizure medicine. But he left the house Monday without that as well.
"He's at high risk of a seizure, and it could be fatal. So, the more time passes, the more urgent it becomes," said Suzy Lebron, Vasquez's aunt.
Relatives say Vasquez, a world traveler, is full of life. He is single and has no children but enjoys tutoring young students and helping them find success. They have checked many of the places in the neighborhood where he could be. They have no reason, at this point, to suspect foul play. But they just do not know.
"He has brain fog, short term memory issues, vertigo. But I never fathomed he would just walk out and not come back," his mother said.
"It's terrifying, because we have no idea where he went," Lebron said.
The family is asking anyone who believes they may have any relevant information to call the Chicago Police Special Victims Unit. They say time is of the essence.