Great Neck, NY -Search For Missing Jewish Man

Great Neck, NY - Thousands of volunteers searched Riverhead by land, air, and water Sunday in the hopes of finding a Great Neck man who has been missing since October 4

Steven Mayer, 62, was supposed to be on his way to work as a metals trader in Huntington when he vanished. His family thinks he may have gotten disoriented and lost.

“We just hope ... that he’s somewhere and we haven’t searched that one area,” said Mayer’s son, Richard Mayer.

Mayer last spoke to someone from his job at 11:30 a.m. the day he disappeared. Mayer said he was nearby but never showed up at work. No one has talked to him since.

Family members say Mayer’s cell phone used reception from a tower in Riverhead at around 3 p.m. that day. They say he called his deceased parents’ number several times and they fear he may be confused.

Sunday, volunteers combed the area near that cell tower by setting up search grinds that covered a 25 mile square radius, organizers said.

“We’re assuming ... his mental status has been altered,” said Victor Brief, who led the search effort Sunday. He said with each passing day the situation becomes more urgent. Brief said more than 2,000 volunteers used all-terrain vehicles, boats, planes, and a helicopter.

Volunteers, many wearing bright yellow vests, examined streets, beaches, and wooded areas. Several Shomrims, volunteer Jewish civilian patrols, from Flatbush, Borough Park, and the village of Kiryas, brought emergency trucks, and disaster vehicles. For most of the day, people lined up and crowded around white tents to get search assignments