David Bird: One year since Long Hill man went missing

LONG HILL – A year ago today, David Bird went for a walk and disappeared.

It was a Saturday afternoon when the 55-year-old Millington resident walked out the door as other member of his family took down Christmas decorations.

"David was in and out of his office doing Saturday stuff. He had work the next day and hadn't felt well Friday, he was in bed most of the day," said David Bird's wife of 23 years Nancy Bird. "I was taking down lights outside when he dragged the tree to the curb.

"It was the first time he'd been outside since he got a haircut at noon. He realized it was warm and a storm was coming so he told me he was going for a quick walk. He asked if I wanted him to help take down the lights before he left and I told him he could do it when I got back. I knew he wouldn't be long."

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Nancy Bird had her back turned to her husband as she took down the lights, and didn't see which direction he went, but assumed it was to nearby Hicks Tract Park.

Taking spontaneous walks was completely normal behavior for David Bird, an active runner who completed the New York City marathon a few months earlier and regularly took long walks around town.

Nancy Bird went inside and took a nap. She woke up about two hours later; it was dark and rainy outside, and she wasn't sure if her husband was home.

"I thought he came back but didn't wake me," she said. "I looked in every room, asked the kids if he'd came home, and then I saw his cell phone in his office. I started to panic and paced for a while. Then I called a friend and when she didn't answer I called the police."

Because Bird had a liver transplant a decade earlier, police immediately considered him endangered and the extensive manhunt for David Bird began.

Pulling out all the stops

Over the next few weeks, dozens of agencies volunteered their time and resources looking for David Bird. Helicopters, search dogs, all-terrain vehicles, and divers all aided in the search.

"I can't say enough of the instant response," Nancy Bird said. "I can't say thanks enough and express my gratitude to the police and others who have been so generous with their time and determination. I do feel like they pulled out all the stops."

Disappearances aren't uncommon in the heavily-wooded area of Long Hill. The week David Bird went missing, Long Hill Township Police Chief Michael Mazzeo said three or four others also went missing in the township. All were found.

"The October before someone was missing for three days and we found him in the Great Swamp," Mazzeo said. "When someone goes missing, usually there's something behind it. But not with David, there are no improprieties here. He just vanished."

Mazzeo said authorities completed a grid search of the areas he was known to walk as soon as daylight broke that first morning, and branched out from there.

"I can't put a number on the searches we've done, it's too many to count," Mazzeo said. "We used every resource available to us."

Mazzeo said the current weather pattern is similar to the first weeks of the search this time last year.

"It was warm and raining when he went missing, then turned to arctic freezing cold and then snow," Mazzeo said. "It's almost identical, eerie. But imagine the responders out on freezing days like this. It was so cold, and it kept snowing. It inhibited the search in such a way."

After snow continued to accumulate, authorities were forced to place the physical search for David Bird on hold until it began to melt.

Divers searched the Passaic River through the ice in the winter, and in the summer, officers rode canoes looking for any sign of David Bird.

"In the fall, we hoped hunters might accidentally come upon him," Mazzeo said. "But unfortunately here we are again."

Aside from the physical search, police followed up on every lead or tip they received, no matter how unlikely. A small, close-knit community, Mazzeo said Long Hill police don't handle as many cases as larger Morris County towns, and are able to provide additional attention and hours to the search.

"We checked phones, computers, his office, the video tapes of every local business, interviewed his family, friends, and co-workers," Mazzeo said. "We checked the borders, passports, airports, hospitals, and homeless shelters."

Mazzeo said authorities checked with every auto body shop in a 20 miles radius to see if anyone had repairs done following an animal strike - unaware it may have been a person - but found nothing. He made personal trips to Newark and Elizabeth ports, and even followed up on family friends' "psychic" claims.

"We staffed a phone and took all calls, looked over every frame of videotape," Mazzeo said. "It's less frequent, but we're still looking today, looking for leads to eliminate. This is not a successful operation until he comes home."

Staying strong

Nancy Bird said there is no road map for her family's unique and tragic situation, so she takes it day by day.

She said she had difficulty speaking about her husband's disappearance at first, but eventually understood the importance of getting the word out.

"Nobody wants to find my husband more than I do," Nancy Bird said, "So it's up to me to make sure nobody forgets."

Carolyn Buscarino, a close family friend who has acted as the family spokesperson for the past year, said she and Nancy Bird are both parishioners at St. Vincent de Paul Church in town and the congregation prays for David Bird every Sunday.

"It helps all of us," Buscarino said. "People realize it could have been their husband or father who went missing. To have someone just vanish is absolutely heartbreaking."

Buscarino, like Nancy Bird and many others, wears a yellow bracelet on her wrist bearing David Bird's name.

"Nancy and her family suffer every day. I don't think it gets better," Buscarino said. "As a community we want to help, but the only thing that will truly help is David being found, so that's what we stay focused on."

Early on in the search, Nancy Bird said she was still in too much shock to do much, but eventually found the strength she needed.

"Now I'm doing OK. I try to go to work one or two days a week and spend the rest of my time here trying to do what I can to find my husband," Nancy Bird said. "Making more flyers, searching his home office, checking contacts on his phone. I was always part of the search team, but I feel I've taken on a detective role. And when the kids are home, I'm mom. They give me the strength to get up every day and do the best I can."

She said her children, Alex, 16, and Natasha, 13, and doing "OK" given the circumstances.

"They miss their dad tremendously," Nancy Bird said. "We're trying to keep things routine, that's important. They go to school every day, extracurricular activities. We miss him a lot and we spend a lot of time talking about him."

Buscarino said the community admires Nancy Bird's determination to power through the adversity she's faced this past year.

"Nancy has been incredibly strong and we're all in awe of it," Buscarino said. "She keeps the kids on a normal schedule and makes sure to be there for them and her friends."

Nancy Bird credits her family, friends, and community of Long Hill with helping her make it through her time of need.

"This community, my friends, they've carried me this year," Nancy Bird said. "Our kids were three and six when David had the liver transplant 10 years ago and we didn't know if he would survive. The community rallied around us then, and some have told me it's why they're so invested in finding him now."

'What he brings to our family'

The Bird family stays positive by talking about all the things about David Bird that made them laugh and smile.

"David is the king of puns. When we heard him say one the kids and I would just groan, but now we say them all the time," Nancy Bird said. "I miss the laughter. Because we don't laugh as much. I miss his humor, his kindness. I miss him desperately and I want him home."

Nancy Bird said he always had fun with his children, who adored him. She recently found a framed newspaper David Bird made at home one snow day when his son was two, the Bird Blizzard News ("All the news we could shovel in" reads the tagline).

"This is what he brings to our family," she said.

Buscarino said David Bird was the face of organ donation in northern New Jersey, due to his success, active lifestyle, and advocacy.

"To see him biking, hiking, running a marathon after a liver transplant. He was leading by example," Buscarino said. "He was a happy, joyful guy and he felt like the 10 years since his transplant was a gift."

Despite the liver transplant, David Bird stayed in great shape, as evidenced by his marathon running.

"How does a 6-foot-1, 200 pound man just vanish?" Nancy Bird said. "It makes no sense."

Financial stress

Nancy Bird said though it's difficult and unpleasant, she relives the day of her husband's disappearance all the time.

"I hope people in the community also relive this day, ask themselves what they were doing on January 11th last year," she said. "Did they see anything suspicious? Did they see a man in a red jacket walking or in distress? I want to jog their memories. If someone knows something but is hesitant to reach out, I'm begging you, end our agony."

Financially, the Bird family is surviving thanks to Nancy's part-time job, fundraisers, and the Bird Family Trust which has received $30,000 in donations in the past year.

But it's not easy - or sustainable - in the long run.

"When the main breadwinner goes missing, you're out," Nancy Bird said. "You have some safety nets when someone is deceased, but with this there's no access to a 401K or trust fund. And it will take a long time for that to change."

Legally, it could take as long as seven years for the Bird family to have access to that financial aid.

"It's financially stressful not knowing what the future holds, but I'm very grateful for all of the generous donations we've received," Nancy Bird said. "Dow Jones has been very generous to us as well. We have been fortunate."

Dow Jones & Co., where David Bird worked as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to his being found.

Nancy Bird said her husband is on a non-paid leave of absence from the company at the moment.

Community events

Today, on the anniversary of David Bird's disappearance, there will be several events to mark the date and raise funds for the family.

The Long Hill Township P.B.A. Local 322 will host a pancake breakfast with all proceeds benefiting the Bird family. The breakfast runs from 7 to 11 a.m. Sunday at the Long Hill Community Center on South Warren Avenue in Stirling.

There will also be a gathering at 3:45 p.m. at All Saints' Episcopal Church, 15 Basking Ridge Road in Millington. After a brief invocation, attendees will be led by Troop 56 Boy Scouts, of whom David Bird is scout leader, to nearby Hicks Tract for a bonfire.

"David was an integral part of Troop 56 and the Long Hill community," said Troop 56 Scoutmaster and family friend Jim Caparoso. "We feel his absence deeply, and we want to commemorate this day in order to keep awareness of David's case top-of-mind for everyone in the area."

Buscarino thinks the events will be good for the community.

"It helps keep the case in mind," Buscarino said. "Make them alert and think back to that day, to jog their memory for the clue the police need."

All are welcome to attend the day's events.

"David would love the bonfire," Nancy Bird said. "And the pancakes."

When David Bird disappeared he was wearing a red jacket, blue jeans, sneakers, a hat with a flashlight strapped to it and glasses. He has partially balding gray hair and a goatee. He is about 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, with blue eyes and a scar on his abdomen.

Staff Writer Michael Izzo: 973-428-6636; mizzo@dailyrecord.com

Anyone with information concerning the whereabouts of David Bird should contact the Long Hill Township Police Department at 908-647-1800, option 1, ext. 236.

Donations to help support the Bird family can be sent to "The Bird Family Trust" at PO Box 234, Millington, NJ 07946.