January 1, Missing Michigan Family Baffles Police: “The Circumstances are Strange”

A Michigan family of four mysteriously has disappeared from their home, leaving investigators baffled by the “strange” circumstances.

“We’re just very concerned,” said Fremont Police Department Chief Tim Rodwell. “The circumstances are strange.”

The Fremont Police Department confirmed that the family had been spotted at a BP gas station in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula on the morning of Oct. 17, MLive reported.

The police said that gas station surveillance video shows all four members of the Cirigliano family — Anthony “Tony”, 51, Suzette, 51, Brandon, 19, and Noah, 15 — buying food and fuel.

Anthony’s phone is turned off, Rodwell said, and the other family members’ phones were found in the home. Suzette had been caring for her elderly mother, who has dementia.

On Monday, Suzette’s mother was found wandering the streets of their neighborhood in Fremont, roughly 45 miles north of Grand Rapids. Police said the family appeared to have fled abruptly without arranging care for Suzette’s mother, who is now staying with another relative.

According to Michigan State police, Tony Cirigliano exhibited “paranoid behaviors” on Oct. 16. That day, he called 911 saying he had information related to Sept. 11 and needed protection from the police.

“I need some police protection immediately,” Tony Cirigliano told the dispatcher. “It is of vital national interest. It is related to Sept. 11, and people want to erase me from the face of the earth.”

Tony Cirigliano told the dispatcher that there weren’t any weapons in the house and that everyone was ok. He asked for police to show up at his home without their lights on, so that his sons wouldn’t be alarmed.

“I’m not crazy,” Tony Cirigliano said on the 911 call. “(A specific Fremont police captain) knows me. I’m a Christian. I just need some help, and then the U.S. Government will take it from here. I know this sounds crazy. You don’t have instructions for this.”

Rodwell said that two officers visited the family home that night, and speaking with Anthony for 45 minutes and with Suzette to make sure she was alright. Police determined that no one was in imminent danger, he added.

Fremont and state police are requesting the public’s help in finding the Cirigliano family.

Tony Cirigliano is described as 5’6″, 180 pounds with brown hair and no facial hair. His wife, Suzette, is 5’9″, 120 pounds, with blond hair and glasses.

Brandon Cirigliano is 5’8″, 120 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. Noah Cirigliano is 5’6″, 120 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. Both of the teens have autism, state police said.

The family was last seen driving a silver 2005 Toyota Sienna with a Michigan license plate DJL 1982.

Police have asked anyone with information to call 911 or the Fremont Police Department at 231-924-2400.