Police continued their search on Saturday for a Special Olympics soccer player from Bangladesh who disappeared Thursday evening from his Gold Coast hotel.
Rezwanul Haque, 22, was supposed to meet with a group on Friday but never showed up, CPD spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. Group members went looking for Haque and contacted the police after several hours of unsuccessful searching.
He was last seen about 5 p.m. Thursday in the 100 block of East Delaware Place, according to a police alert.
Police have video evidence of him leaving his hotel on his own. There’s no evidence of foul play, Guglielmi said.
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, police said. He traveled to Chicago to take part in the Special Olympics, which kicked off on Friday.
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.
No contact had been made as of late Saturday evening, a Special Olympics spokesman said.
He is described as a 5-foot-8, 160-pound Asian man with brown eyes, black hair and a medium complexion.
He was last seen wearing a blue hat with “USA” on the front, a blue polo with “Bangladesh” written in red letters on the back, black pants and white gym shoes, police said. 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.
