Missing NJ security guard feared someone following him
IRVINGTON, N.J. (PIX11) – The mother of a young New Jersey man who started acting strangely in recent weeks appealed for the public's help Saturday to find her son, 26-year-old Samuel Cedeno.
"His behavior changed. He thought someone was following him or wanted to hurt him," Candida Almanzar, Cedeno's mother, told PIX11 News.
The worried mom said her son, a postal service security guard, was last seen leaving his apartment building in Irvington, New Jersey, at about 11 p.m. on Thursday, May 12.
Cedeno's family said a security guard at the Irvington building told them the man seemed nervous.
The family looked for Cedeno's white Honda Accord near the building and could not find it.
Cedeno's mother said her son's behavior had changed after he returned from a trip to Atlanta in late April to meet a friend.
"He thought that his friend put some drug in his drink or something like that," the mother said.
Almanzar acknowledged her son's abrupt behavior change could have been indicative of a mental health problem that had not manifested itself before.
"When he came back from the trip, he said 'Somebody was following me,' like, did damage to his personality," the mother recalled.
"He told me somebody had a dating account in his name, like, they stole his identity," the mother added.
Almanzar, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, lives in the Bronx and said her son last visited her Wednesday night, May 11 and stayed until the morning of Thursday, May 12.
"When we saw him, his behavior was so nervous," the mother said, "He could not stay still."
Almanzar told PIX11 News she filed a missing persons report with the Irvington Police Department and hopes the public might be helpful in finding her son.
She remembered her last conversation with Samuel.
"Mommy, I want to take care of you," Almanzar recalled her son saying. "I want everybody to be safe."