Police were still searching on Sunday for a Special Olympics soccer player from Bangladesh who was last seen getting into an SUV days earlier in front of his Gold Coast neighborhood hotel.
Rezwanul Haque, 22, was last seen in hotel surveillance footage getting into the SUV about 5 p.m. Thursday in the 100 block of East Delaware Place, Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. Haque left the hotel voluntary, and there was no evidence of foul play.
The make and model of the SUV were not immediately known, but it was believed to be white in color. The surveillance footage was not being released to the public.
Haque was supposed to meet with a group on Friday but never showed up, Guglielmi said. Group members went looking for Haque and contacted the police after several hours of unsuccessful searching.
Special Olympics International officials said they’re working with authorities in the search.
“We have learned an athlete from the Bangladeshi Unified Cup soccer team is missing,” the organization said in a statement. “We’re deeply concerned as our foremost priority is the well-being and safety of our athletes.”
Haque has autism and does not speak English, according to a police alert. He traveled to Chicago to participate in the 50th anniversary of the Special Olympics, which started Friday.
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Monir Choudhury, honorary consul of Bangladesh in Illinois, said he’s “working with other members of the embassy and community organizers to give the team all the help they need to find him.”
Given his special needs, Haque’s photo “was sent to every district to get as many people to see him as possible,” Guglielmi said.
Haque is described as a 5-foot-8, 160-pound Asian man with brown eyes, black hair and a medium complexion, police said. He was last seen wearing a blue hat with “USA” on the front, a blue collared shirt with “Bangladesh” written in red letters on the back, black pants and white gym shoes. He also had a light-gray and red backpack.
Haque won a gold medal in badminton at the 2015 games in Los Angeles as a shuttler in the men’s singles event for Bangladesh, according to the team’s website.
Anyone with information should call Area Central detectives at (312) 747-8380, or dial 911.
