“My dad and his brother are finally reunited,” wrote Ilana Pinkhasova on Facebook shortly after 6:30 p.m. Monday afternoon, August 16. Her uncle, Oleg Pinkhasov, a 62-year-old Rego Park resident, had been found and returned to his home.
The events of the 34 hours prior were nerve-racking for Ilana’s family and for the dozens and dozens of rescue workers on hand for the recovery effort. On Sunday evening, word spread that Pinkhasov had vanished without a trace. Last seen at 8:30 a.m., Pinkhasov’s family had become extremely worried due to a preexisting dementia condition. At 62 years of age and standing at 5’10” and 155 lbs., Pinkhasov seemed like any neighborhood grandfather and his disappearance was unsettling.
The Queens Borough Safety Patrol – Shmira coordination was headed by Sal Pinkhasov. Shmira was quick to respond to the call assembling teams of members to canvas the many neighborhoods of Queens. As the day turned to night, Beth Gavriel Community Center opened its doors as the headquarters for the search party. The mobilization effort expanded to include a broader reach with the help of Citywide Shmira founder Levi Leifer on hand. Teams as well used a canine unit to track the senior Pinkhasov’s scent. The search went through the night with barely a break before being reinvigorated by a fresh team at 6 a.m.
The volunteer effort included members of Chaverim of Queens, who established an independent communications platform for their team of over a dozen rescuers, Misaskim of Queens and their vehicle, a vast network of Shmira members from around New York including Citywide, Crown Heights, Catskills, and Staten Island, laymen from the neighborhood, and most importantly everyday social media users who shared the flyer of the missing man thousands upon thousands of times. Community chats, family chats, individual statuses, and consistent shares on social media outlets led the poster to new eyes.
Teams searched parks, apartment buildings, outdoor seating areas, relevant doctor’s offices, and phoned hospitals. The efforts were done in unison with the New York Police Department’s 110th and 112th precincts.
Shortly after 6:30 p.m. Monday evening, Oleg Pinkhasov returned home terribly dehydrated. He had been noticed through the flyers milling around and was brought back to Rego Park via public transportation. Then, another bystander brought the weakened man to his apartment where members of Shmira and Hatzolah of Queens tended to his needs. He was later transported to the hospital for observation.
The family was overcome with emotion by the outpouring of grace and concern from strangers. Ilana Pinkhasova, a niece of the missing, shared the following, “My uncle was found. Someone found him and walked him home. He did not eat for two days. Someone bought him food and fed him. Thank you to all my amazing loving and hardworking people who did not give up. This was such a crazy and exhausting experience.”
The volunteers all had a sense of a rewarding feeling knowing that they were part of an effort that helped locate and reunite a missing community member with his beloved family, but it was the mere endeavor of sharing a flyer that ultimately led to the reunification.
By Shabsie Saphirstein
Community Care Helps Bring Oleg Pinkhasov Home
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