Friday, August 26, 2011

Missing & Last Seen on Benning Road NE

stephen-dedakis-hrzgal[1]
A reader alerted me to the story of a 22 year old man who disappeared August 20th. He was last seen on a traffic camera in the 2500 block of Benning Road NE. Here's the text I was sent that appears on the CNN site (I didn't want to change anything for obvious reasons):

A member of the Situation Room family is in need of help. Stephen DeDakis, the son of Situation Room Sr. Copy Editor John DeDakis, is missing. The 22-year-old was last seen in Washington, DC, August 20.

DeDakis left his home in the Chevy Chase neighborhood of Washington, DC around 9:00 p.m. Saturday driving his father’s car, which he had borrowed with permission. The car is a silver 2001 Volkswagen Passat with DC plates “DK7447.” It was last spotted on a police traffic camera at 10:30 p.m. Saturday on the 2500 block of Benning Road, NE in Washington.

He was last heard from around midnight when he text messaged a friend saying he would “be home soon.” DeDakis was wearing a brown Led Zeppelin T-shirt, dark patterned over-shirt and brown pants.

An all-day search is planned for Saturday, August 27 in the Washington, DC area. The family has also set up a Facebook page, Find Stephen DeDakis, which is being updated with the latest news and information on the search for Stephen. As Stephen could possibly be anywhere, the family is asking for help distributing these flyers across the country. If you have any information, please contact the District of Columbia Police at 202-730-1903 and reference case #11-122-187.

16 comments:

emo said...

Inked, check your spam blocker. WOnderful.

inked said...

emo,
The spam filter catches both too much, and too little.

Anonymous said...

Did he go to any places on H Street before he became missing??

Anonymous said...

Per the wall on the "Find Stephen De Dakis" Facebook page, his body was found in the car.

It's sad that, even in the moment of this tragedy, his father couldn't set aside the Situation Roomesque sensationalistic language:

"The worst! The car has been found with a body slumped at the wheel. No positive ID until the coroner let's me see the body. But I know it's over. Thanks to all of you for your help and prayers. JD"

Annoyingmous said...

Even more sad is that you take pleasure out of making nasty comments about someone who just lost their son (anonymously, of course).

Annoyingmous's Daddy said...

http://www.johndedakis.com/:

"John DeDakis is a CNN journalist who writes mystery-suspense novels, edits manuscripts, and leads writing workshops."

That sounds about right.

Keren said...

people who mock a grieving father = gross

aliza said...

How would you prefer that John have gotten the message out, 12:39? You have no idea what the situation was, but are complaining because Stephen's father is a writer? People were going out searching for Stephen, who had been missing for a week, with a hurricane bearing down on the city. The news came as the car was found, followed by there was a body in the car and that there was no ID until the coroner let John and Cindy see the body, and then that the medical examiner was on the scene. Except, when you're looking at your news feed on Facebook, the first thing you see (most recent) is that the medical examiner was on the scene. I was thankful for John's update and praying he was wrong and that it was someone else's body. Unfortunately, it was Stephen. My heart goes out to the DeDakis family and to Stephen's friends. They have had enough tragedy without someone mocking John's writing when dealing with a horrendous discovery.

Chris said...

Annoyingmous's Daddy: "sounds about right" for what, exactly? By all means, please lay it out for us.

H Street Landlord said...

Awful awful awful. RIP and I hope the family can have some solace and peace.

Anonymous said...

"How would you prefer that John have gotten the message out, 12:39? You have no idea what the situation was, but are complaining because Stephen's father is a writer?"

I'm being pedantic about Mr. DeDakis' language selection. He could easily have written "They found our vehicle with a body inside, which is presumbably Stephen's...". Anyhow, the point is now moot.

The more important question is: how did he die?

Anonymous said...

"Anyway, the point is now moot."

Yes, there's no longer any point in debating the kind of person you are.

East_H said...

Anybody know where the car was found? Isn't it strange they aren't reporting that?

oboe said...

I'm being pedantic about Mr. DeDakis' language selection.

Massive, massive douchebag.

Anonymous said...

What I wanna know is: did the raccoons help look for him?

Tracey said...

"Massive, massive douchebag."
That pretty much sums it up.

Why would his reaction need to be so humdrum? That situation seems like "the worst" and the rest of it is something that wasn't exactly far from the sort of things parents read on tv following the finding of their kid's body.