84-year-old Pasco man disappeared 2 months ago. His family continues to hope he’s alive

All Miguel Naranjo wants is the chance to see his dad one more time.

It’s been nearly two months since Rafael Naranjo, 84, walked away from the apartment he shared with his youngest son on Jay Street in Pasco.

After weeks of looking, multiple search parties and the posting of information across social media and fliers in several states, his family is hoping to find someone who knows something.

“I would love to have him back alive,” said Miguel told the Tri-City Herald. “I can’t 100 percent say that will happen.”

Rafael Naranjo walked away from the apartment about 7 p.m. on Oct. 2 while his son was walking the dogs.

This wasn’t his first time leaving the house. Alzheimer’s had begun to affect his memory, and the elderly man believed he needed to return to his former home in Mexico and set off on foot.

Normally, either Miguel, 23, or Rafael’s other son would walk with him and eventually talk him into returning home.

But this time he took off alone, and police and family have not been able to find him.

Pasco police are still asking for help from the community in finding the elderly man, said Sgt. Rigo Pruneda. So far, they have found no signs of whether he is dead or alive.

Naranjo only speaks Spanish and is often looking to return “home.”

Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to contact Pasco police through the non-emergency dispatch number, 509-628-0333.

Walking

Before he developed Alzheimer’s, Miguel said his dad was always a stable, dependable figure in his life. He would wake up early in the morning and would make sure his children got to work.

He liked walking nearly everywhere he needed to go, whether it was to the grocery store or doctor appointments.

Since he developed Alzheimer’s, he sometimes didn’t understand that Pasco was his home.

He started getting more sneaky about when he tried leaving the house. Sometime getting up in the middle of the night to try to leave. The family installed alarms on the doors to alert them of when he tried to open them.

Last December, Rafael slipped away from his family but a sharp-eyed Ben Franklin Transit driver spotted him the next morning walking near Road 64 and Court Street.

In July, he walked away again and was found in Kennewick asking for directions back to Pasco.

While they had considered getting him into a nursing facility, family members said they didn’t have the money for that type of care.

October disappearance

In October, Miguel was in Sunnyside when he heard that his father was missing. He raced back to Pasco, and began searching until 2 a.m.

The next day he chased down tips about places people thought they’d seen him, but each time Rafael wasn’t there.

“I stopped working for the next two weeks. I put fliers up in Richland, Benton City, Connell, and we went as far as Hermiston,” Miguel told the Herald.

They also created a Facebook page asking for tips about his disappearance and reached out to a group that put up posters across several Western states.

Family members have organized multiple search parties to scour the community, but with no luck. And Miguel showed his picture to people on the street.

After two weeks of hunting, bills started piling up and Miguel had to return to work.

Some family members believe Rafael may have gotten picked up by a passing car or truck and taken out of the Tri-Cities area or even Washington state.

“There are some days where it is just overwhelming,” Miguel said. “I love my dad very much. “