Family Of Bronx Native Missing In Africa Asks For White House's Help

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The family of a Bronx native missing in Africa is petitioning the White House for help.

The search for pilot Bill Fitzpatrick, 59, who most recently lived in Chelan, Washington, is complicated because it's unclear if he disappeared in either Nigeria or Cameroon, CBS 2 reported.

The married father of three was helping to fly missions to catch poachers on parklands in several African nations.

There has been no sign of him or his plane since June 22.

His family fears he crashed, was kidnapped or was killed.

The pilot's brother, Ken Fitzpatrick, said the White House could direct the State Department to do more.

"My brother, Bill, deserves this at a minimum, to have the government get involved actively, aggressively getting involved to find out what did happen," Ken Fitzpatrick said. "If we could collect a handful of data points, we can come to some logical conclusion."

The family's online petition has collected 1,300 signatures. The goal is 100,000.

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