By the time you’re reading this, it will have been nearly two weeks since 51-year-old Vitorino Cirne, a resident of Lyndhurst and an employee at the Kearny Post Office, went missing. We werenít able to get this news into last weekís newspaper because we learned of Cirneís disappearance after we went to press.
While many have likely read about this online, I thought it would be wise to dedicate the space of this column this week to Cirne, a man whom, at this point, weíve heard nothing but great things about.
From the Lyndhurst Police Department came this:
Cirne is 51, 5í7î tall, weighs 150 pounds, has brown eyes, brown and grey hair and has a fair complexion. He was last seen wearing blue lounge pants and a black Adidas zipper-front jacket with white stripes on the sleeves.
He reportedly left his residence between 1:30 a.m. and 6 a.m., the morning of the April 12 ó in his vehicle — which has since been recovered in Lyndhurst in the area of Kingsland and Riverside avenues. Reports says SCUBA divers searched the Passaic River, but were unable to locate Cirne.
Anyone who may have seen or who may have had contact with Cirne ó or who has any information at all about his whereabouts ó is asked to contact the Lyndhurst Police Department immediately at 201-939-2900.
The LPD is being assisted in the investigation by the New Jersey State Police, the Nutley Police Department, the Bergen County Sheriffís Office, the Maywood Police Department, the Lyndhurst Fire Department and the Bergen County Regional SCUBA Task Force.
No other information is currently available.
We can only hope this case doesnít follow the old adage that hope fades after the first 48 hours. As soon as we learn anything new about the disappearance, we will share it on this pages of this newspaper, on our website at www.theobserver.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/theobservernewspaper. Please be sure to check back for updates.
A scam of epic & disgraceful proportions
Woke up early Monday morning as I do most Mondays, and came across a story from a New York City tabloid about a scam being carried out on survivors of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the World Trade Center.
Somehow, the scam artists are getting phone numbers of survivors ó many of the victims are sick from illnesses attributable to their rescue efforts at Ground Zero ó and are calling, reportedly claiming to be from the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, and in doing so, are asking for Social Security numbers.
Itís not as though the scams we hear about on a regular basis from our local police departments are bad enough. They prey on the weak, the elderly, those who are not tech savvy. But this one may very well be the most disgraceful scam ever. Clearly, the fund would never ask a survivor for a Social Security number ó and fund administrators announced that in response to the report.
The Federal Trade Commission is responsible for investigating scams of this nature. With that in mind, we can only hope the usual red tape is nowhere to be found and the commission finds those responsible for these despicable acts and that regardless of where the scams originate (scam artists are often located overseas) the criminals involved are found, prosecuted and thrown behind bars for the rest of their miserable lives. Nothing else will do.
That’s all for now. Be sure to check out my weekly news recaps on Facebook and other live videos we now offer. Enjoy the rest of this week ó and see you back here in a few weeks.
Learn more about the writer ...
Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, a place where he has served on and off since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on Facebook Live, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to West Hudson to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.