The devastated family members of a missing elderly man have offered a $5,000 reward for anyone who provides information that leads them to his whereabouts.
Domingos Martins was reported missing on July 30 after he didn’t return home from his typical two-minute walk near Toronto Pelmo Park Public School.
Martins suffers from “a little bit” of Alzheimer’s and has trouble walking, according to the family.
Toronto police have recently amped up their search tactics, deploying members of their mounted unit, marine unit, K-9 unit and emergency task force to aid in the search.
Speaking to reporters at a news conference Tuesday, multiple family members pleaded with the public for help finding their loved one.
“He might’ve gotten up and lost his way and went a totally different direction, that’s what I believe happened,” daughter-in-law Samantha Martins said.
“We’re devastated, we’re worried… This is our fourth day. He needs medication, it’s been hot. So please, if anyone just has five minutes to go outside and look, please help us.”
The family says Martins’ long-time caretaker is distraught by his disappearance and “can’t talk” about the subject.
Supt. Ron Taverner said a “significant effort” is being made by Toronto Police Service to locate Martins.
Those efforts have been doubled in areas like Jane Street and Highway 401, where Martins was last seen, and other areas where he’s known to frequent.
Investigators obtained some surveillance camera footage Friday afternoon that showed Martins heading west on Gary Drive near Pelmo Park Public School, but that’s the most precise location found thus far.
“There are no words. We just want to find him,” son-in-law Jack Da Silva said.
“We know he needs our help, we need him beside us. We’re going 22 hours a day. We could go 28, we just need to find him and we need to find him today, right away.”
The family says Martins requires medication twice a day and has now gone without it for five days.
Martins is described as being between 180 and 200 pounds, standing approximately five-foot-four and balding. He was last seen wearing glasses, a black shirt with ‘Martins’ written on it, blue shorts and blue Crocs.
Martins only speaks Portuguese and often responds to the name “Branca.”
“We have family members coming from all over the GTA. We have friends, we have neighbours and we have people that we don’t even know who have offered their help. It’s just been overwhelming,” Da Silva said, adding that Toronto police has done a “phenomenal job” thus far.
Taverner said both the family and Toronto police remain hopeful that Martins will be found.
He said the family recently spoke to a psychic who indicated that Martins was alive and possibly near a body of water. While investigators “can’t put a hat on that,” Taverner said it’s a “positive thing” the family has going for them.
“To be very honest, this is very time sensitive and that’s why the family is appealing the way they are,” he said.
“We need to find him and we need to find him today. That’s the goal we have here, all of us.”
