May 14, 2015

13-year-old boy asks for help finding father missing in Amtrak crash

Bob Gildersleeve Jr. was taking the train from Baltimore to New York for a business trip

By Christina LoBrutto
PhillyVoice Contributor

‏@cmcampbell6 /Twitter

A flier with a photo and description of Bob Gildersleeve

A Baltimore family is desperately searching for a loved one after he went missing in the Amtrak train derailment Tuesday night in Philadelphia, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Bob Gildersleeve Jr., a vice president of sales for Ecolab, reportedly boarded the train from Baltimore to New York for a business trip, according to Philly.com.

According to his son, Gildersleeve Jr. usually traveled by plane, but this time, he decided the train would be more convenient.

The Gildersleeve family rushed to Philadelphia when they heard of the crash. When they had no luck searching local hospitals, they went to the Marriott at 12th and Market streets in Center City, where the families of the missing gathered. There, they handed out handmade fliers with Gildersleeve's photo and description.

In a video, Gildersleeve's 13-year-old son holds up a photo of his father.

"My name is Marc Gildersleeve," he says. "Please help me find my dad, and if you know any information, please call."

13 year old Marc asking for help to find his Dad, missing #Amtrak passenger. pic.twitter.com/dPhIQVBCoy
— Helen Ubiñas (@NotesFromHeL) May 13, 2015

The missing man's father, Bob Gildersleeve Sr., also handed out fliers and asked for help finding his son.

Gildersleeve: "None of the hospitals got him. He’s not in the morgue." Authorities found his phone, but not his attache case. #Amtrak
— Regina Medina (@ReginaMedina) May 14, 2015

"I don’t need somebody to come up and say 'oh geez I’m sorry.' I need someone to come up to me & say 'Mr. Gildersleeve we found your son.'"
— Regina Medina (@ReginaMedina) May 14, 2015

“The anxiety in the not knowing — not that anyone is holding back information — but it is really frustrating the information that is coming to us,” Gildersleeve Sr. told the Wall Street Journal.

“We’re talking about a half a dozen people dead, 200 people injured, a train making its way around the track at 100 miles an hour when it should have been doing 50. This is crazy and it’s happening all too often.”