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Search continues for missing Fil-Am tourist in Paris

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Marilyn Rayray, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/news/08/09/08092018-fil-am-tourist_1.jpg"/></figure></div>PARIS, France—The family of a Filipino-American tourist who went missing here on July 14 continues to appeal for help in locating him.Christopher Buluran, 46, a former US Navy, remains a critical missing person in Paris after he left the Georges Pompidou European Hospital at around 10 p.m., July 14, Saturday, where he was admitted in the afternoon for observation after almost passing out while waiting for the Bastille Day parade with his wife and son.“Chris, I guess, wasn’t feeling well, pretty much. He was leaning against a tree. I believe he was starting to drift away from the tree. A couple nearby who saw what was happening started to flag a policeman who came quickly and supported Chris to kind of lay him down on the ground,” recounted his wife, Aura.After he was assessed by paramedics, it was decided that it would be best to transport him to the hospital for further observation. From the emergency room, Buluran was moved to the cardiology room, where he stayed the night.“We don’t have any concern at all. We were just glad that he was being looked at. He was given IV. And at our standpoint he looked OK. I mean he’s active, he’s lucid . . . He knows what’s going on.” Aura and their son left Buluran in the hospital one and a half hour after he was moved to the cardiology room at about 5:40 p.m. bringing with them his belongings.According to the police report filed by the hospital at 11:35 p.m. on July 14, Buluran took the telemetry monitoring device off him. On July 16, Buluran’s family had a view of the hospital surveillance camera that confirmed he went out of the hospital at about 10 p.m., taking the Place Cohen exit.Why would he leave the hospital? The family is attributing this to his health condition. “Based on what we know as a fact from the hospital, something may have happened to him mentally,” said his wife. The thought that he might have memory loss has added to his family’s anguish.Buluran’s sister, Heidelyn Buluran Grams, immediately flew in from Florida upon hearing the news. “We didn’t even think that this is something that could happen at all to somebody just traveling for vacation. We just assumed that they will find him quickly but they explained that it was Bastille Day and France won the World Cup. The streets are crazy at that time,” said Grams.Buluran’s son, Ianne, searched the streets for his father.“It is so kind of unreal to me. The period between when we left and when we came back, that’s only four hours. I don’t know what happened in four hours,” he said.In an e-mail sent through a concerned local, Captain Marylene Lambert, in-charge of missing persons in Paris, said they are doing everything to find Buluran. The captain has sent many requests for information to all the hospitals in Paris, as well as social services offices, in case Buluran would be found homeless but all services have answered negatively so far. She mentioned that it is difficult to find somebody as hundreds of tourists are in this city and the fact that her office is handling 15 to 20 missing persons a day.“We just wanted the police to tell us that — ‘Yes, we are aware that your husband is missing’ . . . We would like to actually meet with them together,” pleaded Aura.Buluran was last seen at Rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs in Paris on July 19 by a Filipina, but the family was only informed about the sighting two days after. “He is out there by himself without any resources. And not having any money, food, water, shelter especially in this kind of heat, I don’t know how anyone can survive. The fact that he is also diabetic. He doesn’t have his eyeglasses and his insulin with him,” Aura said.It was supposedly a month-long vacation, first for the Bulurans, with Paris being the first leg of the trip. The family arrived in the city on July 10 and were supposed to leave for Hong Kong on July 18. After Hong Kong, they will fly to Singapore, then Thailand and back to their homeland the Philippines, where they wanted to settle for good. “We have never been to any of these countries. And, yes, we wanted to go back and yeah we were going to try and see if we can make it in the Philippines,” Aura said.The family had planned the trip together and were looking forward to each travel. Heartbroken, they can’t fathom the possibility that Buluran would just leave the hospital on his own based on circumstances. It is completely out of character for him to do such a thing, they said.Filipinos and church members have organized search parties, distributed flyers, and checked hospitals and homeless shelters. Some locals have also helped in accommodation and spreading information. “It’s been a surreal, bittersweet experience and at the same time amazing to see and to rely on our kababayan because they are the only ones who have taken any action at all,” Aura said.Buluran is about 1.72 meters tall (about 5-foot-7), with brown complexion, black hair, dark brown eyes, and weighs 82 kilograms. He has a tattoo “TPB” on his right middle finger and a scar on his left hand. He was last seen wearing a light gray shirt, light brown shorts and black shoes. Anyone with information may contact the police at 01.53.68.81.00, the Buluran family at 06.35.71.78.56 or alert Facebook page Let’s Find Chris Buluran in Paris.

The family of Christopher Buluran, who went missing in Paris on July 14, continues to appeal for help in locating him.

The family of Christopher Buluran, who went missing in Paris on July 14, continues to appeal for help in locating him.

Search continues for missing Fil-Am tourist in Paris

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Search continues for missing Fil-Am tourist in Paris

Marilyn Rayray,

ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau

Published August 09, 2018 08:08 PM PHT

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missing Fil-Am

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