Gone Missing

Friends seek info about a 73-year-old veteran who disappeared.

by Brian Hickey

Ever since he got mugged last year, John Duffy scribbled down the serial numbers of what little money he carried on him. That way, he figured, the police could track down any future mugger who decided to take advantage of the 73-year-old Korean War vet who refused to move from his lifelong home in Brewerytown.

People who know Duffy have been telling that story, and others, as they try to figure out what could have happened to a neighborhood mainstay who's been missing since Nov. 4. It's been difficult for them to remain positive. Police officers went to his house, on a side street between Master and Jefferson streets near 29th that's sprinkled with boarded-up homes, and found no sign of him. He hasn't shown up at his regular taproom in nearby Fairmount. Friends have also checked with area hospitals, the Veterans Administration and city Medical Examiner's Office to no avail.

"We just don't know where he is," says a friend who knows Duffy from Krupa's bar at 27th and Brown streets. "It's been too long now, and he doesn't have any money. It doesn't look good."

Duffy's also been missed by the cloistered nuns at the Sister Mary Catherine Convent of Divine Love on Green Street. Just about every day, he would take the Route 48 bus to Center City, toting a pail in which he carried his possessions. There, he'd load up on things at dollar stores and head back to Fairmount to disperse his gifts.

"He'd bring us little things, like umbrellas," one of the nuns recalls. "We've been wondering where he's been. It's such a shame."

While there's no way to tell whether foul play is involved, police spokesman Cpl. Jim Pauley said anybody with information about Duffy's whereabouts—he's 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs around 140 pounds—should call the 23rd Police District at (215) 686-3230.