An Oak Park father missing since Tuesday has been found safe, a friend said this evening.
Teams of volunteers have been searching for Jassen Strokosch, 39, since he disappeared. Reached today by phone, the search organizer Nancy Guarino confirmed he had been found and that he was safe, but declined to provide other details.
Laurent Pernot, a friend and business partner of Strokosch, confirmed that Strokosch was found at a local hospital, but did not know which one. He said Strokosch had apparently checked himself in, but Pernot did not give details and said the family is asking for privacy.
“He is alive and physically well,” Pernot said. “We are eternally grateful for this.”
A friend posted the news on "Find Jassen Strokosch," a Facebook page dedicated to finding Strokosch at about 5:30 p.m.
"Jassen is alive and has been found. Laurent called me moments ago. He is at a local hospital and Jamie has spoken with him. We don't know any more at the moment, we will inform you all of more details as we get them. But he is alive and OK."
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ORIGINAL NEWS POSTING:
Police are asking for the public’s help to find Jassen Strokosch, a well-known Oak Park parent who was last seen Wednesday morning.
Strokosch, a 39-year-old father of two and “avid cyclist”, was last seen in the area of Cermak Road and Desplaines Avenue in Forest Park. He was wearing a plaid button-up shirt, a T-shirt and either khaki shorts or blue jeans and is believed to be on foot, according to police. He is described as 6-foot-1, 145 pounds, and has long, brown hair and hazel eyes.
Strokosch is a visible presence in the Oak Park Elementary District 97 community. He is the former PTO president and is one of the lead parents for the Irving Schoolyard rehab project. He gave a presentation to the school board on the project last month. He also recently helped organize the Ragnar Relay, a fundraising event in which runners travel from Madison, Wis., to Montrose Beach in Chicago. The run raised $12,000 for the Irving project.
During the successful District 97 tax increase campaign, he was co-chair of Committee to Support our Schools, a collection of pro-referendum parents.
District 97 spokesman Chris Jasculca, who posted an alert on TribLocal Oak Park early this morning, said police were alerted after repeated attempts to locate or contact Strokosch failed. Police Cmdr. LaDon Reynolds said, so far, there is no indication of foul play.
Strokosch is listed online as the co-founder and senior vice president of Chicago-based Platform Public Affairs, which helps companies with online and social media development.
Strokosch’s business partner, Laurent Pernot, said he did not want to speculate on where Strokosch might be, but said that him being out of contact for such a long time is “not characteristic.”
Pernot said he last spoke with Strokosch Tuesday morning, when he left his home to go to a meeting. Pernot said he is not sure what planned to do that day.
“All we know right now is what the police know” and have released publicly, he said.
So far, he said there has been a tremendous reaction from Oak Parkers.
“There has been such an outpouring of support,” Pernot said. “Jassen is rightly loved and respected in Oak Park.”
A neighbor who answered the phone at the Strokosch home declined to comment and referred all questions to police.
Anyone with information should call police at 708-386-3800.
