TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Australian Man Found Safe After Being Reported Missing In Tampa

ADVERTISEMENT

By VALERIE KALFRIN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 13, 2007

TAMPA - An Australian man whose parents flew here from Sydney to report him missing after not hearing from him for a month has been found safe, police said.

  
Dennis Mosquera

Dennis Mosquera, a 30-year-old computer engineer, arrived in Tampa after a nonstop flight from Chicago on Oct. 13. His parents, Hugo, 68, and Faviola, 65, became alarmed after he hadn't called or contacted them since boarding the plane in Chicago.

The parents have been staying in a hotel on North Dale Mabry Highway since Oct. 28 to search for their son, speaking to police and handing out fliers.

Today, after an article about their efforts ran in the Tampa Tribune, police located the missing man.

Police originally confirmed Dennis Mosquera had arrived in Tampa but found he had not checked in to the hotel where he advised he was staying. Investigators had difficulty obtaining his bank records to track his whereabouts because of international issues. His parents said it was unusual for him to be out of contact because he phoned often while traveling in Europe and Japan last year.

A hotel worker who read the Tribune article recognized Dennis Mosquera's picture and called police and private investigator Roy Pierce, who is helping the parents. The worker reported Dennis Mosquera had stayed at another hotel between Oct. 16 and 19, Pierce said.

The worker had jotted down Mosquera's passport number, confirming his identity, and also left a cell phone number and e-mail address as contact information, Pierce said.

Police spokeswoman Andrea Davis said an investigator used that phone number to reach Dennis Mosquera today. The man told police he was "working on his business" and hadn't wanted to talk to anyone, she said. The investigator planned to relay to Mosquera's parents that he was all right.

"Our case is closed," she said.

An attempt to reach Hugo and Faviola Mosquera at their hotel was unsuccessful this afternoon.

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800 or vkalfrin@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT