When George Bursenos retired from a successful career with IBM, he thought he'd have plenty of time to relax and enjoy his five children. He didn't plan to spend most of the month of November waiting and worrying for word about his son, Peter Bursenos, a Huntington resident who has been missing since November 4.
"Just when you think it's time to relax, something happens to make you realize you're vulnerable," said Bursenos, who hasn't given up hope that he'll still see his son alive.
"My wife, Karen and I, stay home and wait to hear from him. We hoped that we'd get a call, especially on Thanksgiving," said Bursenos.
Fairfax County Police Homicide Detective Bob Murphy hasn't given up hope either, although he said that when people disappear like this, they usually show up in a few days. Peter has been missing for a month. His truck was found parked on the Baltimore Washington Parkway a few days after he was reported missing; it was out of gas. Murphy said that they have towed the truck to the Fairfax County Crime Scene Bay to process for fingerprints; they did not find any evidence of foul play.
"We get a fair number of missing persons reports, but not like this. There's no trace of the guy and he didn't take any of his belongings. He said good-bye when he left work [at Cyprus Air] that night and said, 'See you in the morning.'"
Peter Demetriou, owner of Cyprus Air, said that Peter had only worked there for a few weeks.
"It was a new job for him, he was a good worker," said Demetriou. He did say that Peter was in a rush to leave that day and didn't clock out.
MURPHY SAID THAT they have conducted both foot and helicopter searches and are being assisted by the Prince Georges County Police and the Park Police. A body was discovered this week in Largo, Md. that originally fit Peter's profile, but it turned out to be a Hispanic victim. Murphy said that they will continue to investigate the case.
"Over the years, there have been a couple of cases where they found the body a year later, and never really knew what happened."
George Bursenos said that the police told him that there's been no activity on his son's cell phone, ATM card or credit cards.
A couple of Peter's friends have been distributing flyers and calling former high school and college friends. When friends ask what they can do, George Bursenos tells them to pray. He also asks for anybody with information to call the Crimesolvers number, 800-673-2777 or the Fairfax County Police, 703-691-2131.
Bursenos said, "The detective told me that the more eyes and ears there are, the more attention this will get."