Judi, her fiancé Chuck Wigmore, and Steve’s girlfriend, Jen, in Florida, are trying to get the word out in as many ways as they can that Steve is missing, and they want him found.
He had been at his girlfriend’s house and left there that evening, she said.
She said no matter what, she has always heard from her son twice a week, and that he was in contact with Jen daily — until last Wednesday evening.
Judi Daige has filed a missing person’s report with Sanford Police and is attempting to work with Florida authorities, in hopes they can locate her son.
Stephen Daige, 32, arrived in Lake Worth a year ago to begin an addiction recovery program, his mother said. He did well for several months but relapsed; he has had varying degrees of success since. A 2003 graduate of Massabesic High School, he has struggled with addiction for some time.
Most recently, Stephen had been in a program in a Florida halfway house. Judi Daige said another resident of the halfway house told Stephen’s girlfriend that he had dropped Stephen off at a local church on Thursday morning.
A spokeswoman for Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said in an email Wednesday that Daige had been transported to JFK Medical Center on Sept. 14. She provided no further inforamtion. A hospital official said he had been discharged from the emergency department but it was unclear when that transpired.
“We know nothing. We’ve reached out to every person I know, explored every avenue,” said Judi. “No one has seen or heard from him.”
She said her son had been working and that authorities have discovered that he has not picked up his last paycheck.
Had he relapsed and begun using drugs again, she said, she believes he would have picked up that check.
While she has been reaching out to officials in Florida, Daige is also engaging local law enforcement.
Sanford Police Officer Sarah Howe said she has put out a “File 6,” which means that if Stephen’s name is run by any law enforcement agency in the U.S., he will come up as a missing person. As well, she has checked with hospitals in the area.
“(This is) unusual enough in that he hasn’t reached out to his family, and that, along with some other facts in the case, which I am not at liberty to discuss, gives us concern for his well being,” said Howe.
Stephen Daige is 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighs about 155 lbs. His hair is brown and close-cropped.
His family members have set up a Facebook Page, called Help Find Steve Daige.
“He had friends here and friends in Florida. We’re trying to spread the word,” Judi said.
Judi wants to answer the phone and hear her son’s voice. She wants to visit him in Florida in February, as she did a year ago. By then, she said, she will be a grandmother to a new grandchild — Stephen’s girlfriend is five months pregnant.
Anyone with information about Stephen Daige is asked to call Sanford Police at 324-9170.
— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.
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