By Gabriel Rom
Two LeFrak City security guards were honored by the 104th Precinct last week for solving the case of a missing man that had dogged police for more than a week in December.
Raymond Sosa and St. Aubyn Duncan received an Award of Recognition from 104th Capt. Mark Wachter at a monthly Precinct Community Council meeting.
“Usually on a missing persons case, we solve it in a day or two. Sometimes they’re runaways, sometimes they maybe locate to another state,” Wachter said.
“But this was a unique case where we really didn’t know where this person went. He was gone for eight days and that’s quite unusual.”
The missing man knew no English and had been wandering the city’s streets for over a week.
On their way to work, the two guards saw a missing persons poster at the Woodhaven Boulevard subway station. When they arrived at LeFrak City, Sosa saw a man, seemingly confused and distressed, who fit the poster’s description. He sprinted back to the subway station to make sure it was the same man, while his partner, Duncan, engaged the missing man in conversation. Sosa promptly returned, confirmed the man’s identity and the two guards alerted police.
Wachter said that because of the quick action of the two guards, the man was reunited with his family and a tragedy was avoided.
“We want to say thank you and we want to give an award of recognition to these two security guards who basically saw something, remembered it, took action and reunited a missing person from another country with their family,” Wachter said. “We see a lot of tragedies and we don’t know where this person could have wound up in another day or two.”
Sosa is a resident of the Bronx; he currently works at the Department of Environmental Security as a security guard, stationed at LeFrak City. He is the assistant coach of a high school basketball team.
Before working at LeFrak City, Duncan was a member of the New York State National Guard, stationed in Fort Hamilton. He is an Army masonry specialist, licensed security guard and also works at DEP as a security guard.
His personal motto, which Wachter said he greatly admired, was “hard work, dedication and daughter.”
Reach reporter Gabriel Rom by e-mail at grom@
