2/29/2008
Brother of Oregon youth ministers missing
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| Brother of Oregon youth ministers missing |
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Ed Langlois
Two women active in Catholic youth ministry in Washington County are in Seattle searching for their missing brother.
Nicholas Francisco, a 28-year-old art designer, has not been seen since leaving work in Seattle Feb. 13, an evening he had promised to make cookies with his four-year-old daughter.
He and his pregnant wife and their two children live in the SeaTac area.
His sisters are Deborah Francisco, coordinator of youth ministry at St. Anthony Parish in Forest Grove, and Pamela Francisco, a member of the youth ministry team at St. Matthew Parish in Hillsboro.
Nicholas Francisco’s car was found Feb. 18 in a Federal Way condominium complex that appears to have no connection to him. Police believe he was either a victim of random crime or fled for some reason.
“At this time, prayers and getting the word out are the best ways to help Deborah and Pamela and their family,” says an email sent out to area youth ministers by Michal Horace, director of youth and young adult ministry for the Archdiocese of Portland.
The Forest Grove parish celebrated a Mass this week in support of the family. Father Bill Holtzinger, pastor of St. Anthony, met with teens Sunday to help them decide on a good course of action.
“There are no rules here. How do you do this well?” the priest says. “There are all kinds of tragedies in this world. This is one of the worst — when there is no finality.”
A Wednesday vigil Mass was the result, with youths taking a lead in liturgical ministry and prayer. Those who came took up a collection for the family.
The Francisco siblings are close. Once, when Nicholas and wife Christine were in dire need of a babysitter, Deborah drove all the way to Seattle to watch the kids.
Nicholas Francisco spoke to his wife by phone from his Queen Anne office around 6 p.m. the evening he went missing.
He said he was on his way home, telling his wife he loved her. He never arrived.
Christine Francisco, his wife, told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that she asked her husband to stop at Costco for some sugar on his way.
“He is gone. That’s all I know. He just vanished. There is something wrong, I just don’t know what it is,” she told the newspaper. “There is no trace of him left.”
Christine told Fox News that her husband would come home if he could and that no one would hate him.
“If you met him, you’d loved him,” she said. “And that’s just how it’s always been. That’s why we’re all so concerned, because he’s not a coward. He would not run out on us.”
The couple recently celebrated their seventh wedding anniversary.
Friends organized a search party of about 50 people, posting flyers and driving every possible route between Nicholas’ office and his home. The car was located, but police report no more leads. A website has been set up at mailpen.net, which includes a description of Nicholas Francisco.
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