Tung Tung “Tommy” Lam, 30, was last seen about 10 p.m. on Dec. 24 leaving his aunt’s Bayside home, his…
By Kathianne Boniello
The family of a Long Island man who disappeared after a Christmas Eve visit with family in Bayside have asked for the public’s help in finding him.
Tung Tung “Tommy” Lam, 30, was last seen about 10 p.m. on Dec. 24 leaving his aunt’s Bayside home, his brothers, Albert and Louis Lam, said last Thursday at a news conference organized by City Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside).
A married father of a 1-month-old baby, Tommy Lam never returned to his Lynbrook, L.I., home, prompting his family to launch a massive search for him in Queens and Long Island, Albert and Louis Lam said.
“His family is very worried about him,” Albert Lam said. “We don’t know what happened to him.”
The Nassau County police said Tuesday they had no new information on Tommy Lam’s disappearance.
Albert said his brother suffers from a mild form of depression which interferes with his judgment, and that he had not been taking his medication.
“We feel without his medication he may be a danger to himself,” Albert Lam said. “We want to see him come home safely and be with his family.”
“He could just be wandering around on the street without knowledge of how to get back home,” said Albert. When asked if his oldest brother might commit suicide, Albert Lam said: “I think that’s a possibility.”
Tommy Lam works as a waiter and deliveryman in his family’s Chinese food restaurant in Oceanside, L.I., his brothers said, and makes the trip to his aunt’s Bayside home near 215th Street and Bell Boulevard about once a month.
Louis Lam said “we’ve checked whatever we can — his bank account, his credit cards. We’ve asked all his friends and relatives, no one has seen or heard anything.”
Avella, who urged the public to keep their eyes open for Tommy Lam, said “the faster we can find out where their brother is …the better.”
Family friend Glend Ong said Tommy took Dec. 23 off to buy Christmas gifts and was often generous, buying a thank you present for his English tutor.
“He’s involved in the family business, and he’s not as extroverted or outgoing” as some people, Ong said. “I’ve gone with him when he delivers the food — the customers like him.”
Tommy went to Bayside with his mother between 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. but left by himself, Albert Lam said. The family has made the assumption that Tommy took his regular route home using the southbound Cross Island Parkway and the eastbound Southern State Parkway to get to Lynbrook.
While Bayside’s 111th Precinct is not handling the case, Community Affairs Officers Anthony Lombardi and Santo Elardo said the public should use caution when approaching someone who they think has been missing.
Lombardi, who emphasized that each missing persons case is different, said “the best thing to do if there’s not a way to contact the family or call the police, call 911” to report the person’s whereabouts.
Elardo said going up to someone who appears disoriented and who could be missing was not the best way to handle the situation.
“You don’t know what his state of mind is,” he said.
Tommy Lam was last seen wearing a cream-colored sweater with a blue stripe across the chest, dark blue or black pants and black leather shoes, Albert said. His family said Lam drives a silver, four-door 1997 Honda Civic with deflectors on all the windows and partially stripped tinting on the back window. The car’s license plate number is CCY3716.
Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Smith of the Lynbrook Police Department’s Missing Squad Unit at 516-573-5370 or the Lam family at 917-862-7739.
