Search Underway for Missing Oak Lawn Man in Forest Preserve

Oak Lawn Police and other area law enforcement agencies are searching a Cook County Forest Preserve for an Oak Lawn man who has been missing since Saturday.

Algimantas Bauza, 58, left his Oak Lawn home around 7 a.m. Saturday to go hiking in the Country Lane Forest Preserve near 95th Street and LaGrange Road in Willow Springs, police said.

At 8 a.m., Bauza’s wife reached him on his cell phone. Her husband told her everything was fine and that he was still out hiking. Several hours later she called her husband again but he did not answer his cell phone

Both the missing man’s wife and son tried calling Bauza numerous times on Saturday, but he did not pick up his phone, police said.

Family members say that Bauza frequently goes to the forest preserve to work out and is familiar with the woods. Bauza has never gone missing before and had not made any remarks to his wife about harming himself.

According to family members, Bauza had been taking medication for depression the past two weeks because of difficulty sleeping.

Around 3 p.m. Saturday, Bauza’s wife found his vehicle at the Country Lane Forest Preserve on 95th Street, just west of LaGrange Road. She searched the woods for her husband but could not locate him and went to the Willow Springs Police Department to file a missing person report.

The Willow Springs police contacted the Cook County Forest Preserve Police to search the woods.

Authorities searched the wooded area where Bauza was believed to have been on Sunday morning, using a cadaver dog with negative results.

The search-and-rescue cadaver dog also searched the area north of where Bauza’s vehicle was found also with negative results. Police said the dog did “hit” on a pond area.

An Oak Lawn Police news release reported that the pond was searched by the Palos Fire Department on Monday, but did not turn up Bauza.

Authorities continued searching the Country Lane Forest Preserve and pond on Tuesday. No new information has been developed.

Bauza is white male with a fair complexion, at six-feet-two-inches tall, and weighs 220 pounds. He is balding with gray hair. Bauza was wearing blue sweat pants and gray gym shoes, and an unknown color of shirt.

Anyone with information about Bauza is asked to call the Oak Lawn Police Department at 708-422-8292.