15 years of hope: NYPD is still looking for Russian-speaking guy who disappeared in 2005

Police still not giving up in search of a Russian-speaking guy from New York who disappeared in 2005. Today he should be 33 years old. Information about his mysterious disappearance is published on the website charleyproject.org.

What is known about the missing

Arkadiy Tashman is a Russian citizen who emigrated to the United States in 1996.

On January 26, 2005, at the age of 17, he went missing. He was last seen on Staten Island, New York. He visited a friend, Arkady left him home at 2:45 am. True, he never returned home and there was no more news of him. He left his mobile phone at home the day before he disappeared.

Later that morning, Arkady's parents found the message he had written, left in the bedroom. It said, “Sorry about that. No commemoration, no funeral. " The parents immediately notified the police, but for unknown reasons, the search was not started for another six days.

Apparently Arkady was depressed at the time of his disappearance and may have been suicidal. Friends and relatives of Arkady said that they did not notice any signs of depression in the guy. However, it is known that shortly before his disappearance, he broke up with his girlfriend and was very upset about this. She said that before Arkady had already considered the possibility of suicide.

Those close to Arkady do not believe that he could have committed suicide. His parents argued that he would never do that. They also said they did not know what could have caused him to leave; he had never even visited a friend before without parental permission.

Arkady was attending Port Richmond High School at the time of his disappearance. He lived with his parents on Brabant Street in Mariners Harbor, Staten Island, and often stayed in Bensonhurst with his adult sister, who was leaving the country at the time of his disappearance.

Since Arkady is an avid skateboarder, investigators tracked him down to skateboard parks in Brooklyn, Greenwich Village, Staten Island and Manhattan's East Village in New York.

Some agencies classify Arcadia as a fugitive, but he is reported missing due to his depression and the note he left behind. His disappearance remains unsolved.

Ever since Arkady disappeared, an endless search began for his family. As reported on the website arkadiytashman.blogspot.com, his family posted leaflets throughout the city with information about the missing person, and visited all local police stations. Sister Arcadia recalls how she demanded from the cops that they use helicopters and dogs to search for dogs. However, the police labeled the guy a "fugitive" and did not seem to try to do anything.

Information about the missing person was sent to all news newspapers and TV channels: NY1, WB11, CBS, Daily News, Staten Island Advance, RTVI, NTV, Brooklyn Skyline.

“Our family was sleep deprived for almost a month. The only thing this job brought was even more pain. People called with practical jokes (they probably thought we weren't suffering enough from our loss). The calls I received were humiliating, painful and angry, ”said Sister Arkadia.

“My poor parents. They lived from call to call. They looked at me, called for help, asked if I had heard anything. Dad didn’t cry, but Mom was broken. I could not say who suffered more from this ordeal. Search missions have become the goal of our life, ”added the elder sister Arkadia.

Relatives were looking for Arkady wherever he could be - in underground shelters, in police stations, in shelters.

A month after the disappearance of Arkady, his mother wanted to commit suicide. Around the same time, the family had hope - they hired private detective Scott Bernstein, who nearly ruined them in the end.

As a result, Arkady's parents and his older sister moved to the same house to be closer to each other.

“They live in an apartment downstairs. And I can hear my mother crying at night, and I cry too. Daddy is trying to be strong. Although he once told me, when a volunteer and I searched a park on Staten Island, that if he found his body here, he would die instantly, ”recalls Sister Arcadia.

But there were also good people who really tried to help the family with the search. For example, Paul Thompson from Staten Island, some of his friends and many others who selflessly handed out posters and looked for information about the guy.

“Come back, I'm thinking of you. That's all I think about. I still peer into the faces of tall young guys, trying to recognize you in them when I walk down the street, ”the missing person's sister summed up.

If you have any information about the missing person, call the New York City Police Department at 212-473-2042.

The NYPD also has a missing persons page - here.

Features

Arkady Tashman is a white man. Height - 184-189 cm. Age 33 years (at the time of disappearance he was 17 years old). Hair - light brown, eyes - gray-blue.

On the day of his disappearance, he was wearing a light gray hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, black sneakers, and a green baseball cap.

Arkady has scars on both hands, and his right ear is pierced.

Information about the Russian-speaking boy was published on the page for the search for missing persons. There is a photo on the site where the boy was “aged” using a special program to show how he might look today.

About The Charley Project

The Charley Project lists over 13 “cold cases” of missing persons, mainly from the United States of America. The project is not actively investigating these cases; it is just a means of advertising for missing people who are often ignored by the press and forgotten too early.