Police in Palatine and Rolling Meadows are investigating the disappearance of Matthew J. Cipriani, director of the Rolling Meadows Park District ice arena, who has been missing since Feb. 2.
Cipriani, 28, who lives in Palatine, is president of the Northwest House Hockey League, which has 80 teams of youngsters ages 6 to 17 from numerous suburbs, said Tim Mueller of the Park District.
Cipriani came to work the morning of Feb. 2 for only a brief period, told a secretary he was going to a doctor and left. He has not been seen since, Mueller said.
Asked by the secretary what was wrong, Cipriani said: “I don’t know-that’s what I’m going to find out,” according to Mueller and Cipriani’s mother, Barbara, of Wayne, Mich.
Cipriani had no regular doctor, and checks of hospitals and clinics have failed to locate him, his mother said.
Palatine police Cmdr. Mark Kjellstrom said no signs of foul play have been discovered in a lengthy investigation.
Police are considering the possibility that Cipriani disappeared voluntarily.
Cipriani’s car, a white 1992 Thunderbird, with Illinois license plate number 48184 (his former ZIP code in Wayne), is also missing, his mother said.
Mueller, who is superintendent of special facilities for the Park District, said the district gets phone calls all day asking about Cipriani’s welfare.
Cipriani has worked for the district for four years, is also a coach of a youth hockey team and runs the 60-team men’s hockey program in Rolling Meadows, Mueller said.
“We’re all worried about him,” Mueller said. “We just want to make sure he’s safe.”