Collier deputies search for missing veteran

Reporter: Tiffany Rizzo Writer: Elyssa Morataya
Published: Updated:
Eduardo Ramirez

The clock is ticking to find a missing veteran.

Eduardo Ramirez was last seen on Thursday, and his car was found abandoned off Beck Boulevard in East Naples.

Search parties have been looking for him ever since.

Ramirez has diabetes, so they believe he may have been having a diabetic episode and was confused.

This was an active search. However, law enforcement scaled back their aviation efforts Monday afternoon and cleared out the staging area due to bad weather.

Early Monday, the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, fire crews, EMTs, forestry officials and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers were all searching for the 64-year-old.

So far, they found his abandoned car two miles into the Picayune Strand State Forest.

The team started their search there. They went out on swamp buggies and aviation searched the sky with drones and helicopters.

The family has also been handing out flyers, and his sisters tell WINK News they are not giving up hope.

“We’re hoping that that survival instinct has kicked in on him, and that he’s surviving out there, and that we do find him. He’s a good person. He’s someone that’s always there for whoever needs him,” said Liset Garcia, sister of Eduardo Ramirez. “Wanting to get him home is why we’re here, and we haven’t lost hope or faith.”

The family is asking for anyone available to come together and help look for their brother.

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