Case file
Key facts
- Name: Reuben Barua Waithaka
- Age at disappearance: 72
- Missing since: May 15, 2025
- Location: Timberline neighborhood, Calera, Alabama; last confirmed sighting at a gas station about two miles from his son’s home at about 11:43 a.m.
- Description: 5 feet 5 inches tall, about 160 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair. Last seen wearing khaki pants, a blue-and-white checkered shirt and black shoes, walking with a noticeable limp.
- Status: Still missing — in May 2026, a year after he vanished, the Calera Police Department announced a $1,000 reward for credible information and said detectives do not believe he has left the county
- Investigating agency: Calera Police Department, 205-668-3505
8,000 miles for a graduation
Reuben Waithaka, 72, and his wife, Elizabeth Barua, flew more than 8,000 miles from Kenya to Calera, Alabama — a city of about 19,000 people some 30 miles south of Birmingham — so he could watch his first grandson, Byron Barua, graduate from high school. They arrived at his son Willington Barua’s home on May 14, 2025, six days before the graduation. In his suitcase were gifts he had carried across the world: faded photographs of his son as a young boy, and matching African-print shirts for himself, his son and his grandson — three generations meant to stand together in one picture.
The journey had already worried the family. According to CNN’s reporting with the family, Waithaka became agitated on the long flight from Frankfurt to Atlanta and needed help staying in his seat; at the Atlanta airport he fell on an escalator and injured his knee. The family took him to an emergency room, where a CT scan of his head and bloodwork came back normal and he was discharged. The family has raised the possibility that he was living with a condition that could impair his judgment, and Calera authorities issued a Missing and Endangered Person Alert on that concern.
Eleven-oh-eight in the morning
The next morning — the morning after he arrived — Waithaka walked out of his son’s house in the Timberline neighborhood. The home’s doorbell camera captured him stepping onto the driveway at 11:08 a.m., dressed neatly in khakis, a checkered blue-and-white shirt and black shoes. His wife followed him out, turned back to lock the door, and when she turned around he was gone.
Investigators later pieced together two rides: a neighbor dropped him off a few houses away, believing it was his destination, and a delivery driver then gave him a ride “to town.” At about 11:43 a.m., surveillance footage at a gas station nearly two miles away recorded him walking in with his hands behind his back, limping from his airport fall. He waved at the store attendant, went into the restroom, and left through the back door. That is the last confirmed sighting of Reuben Waithaka. A witness later reported someone matching him crawling under a gate near a wooded area behind the station, but that report has never been confirmed. He was carrying no U.S. dollars and no passport, and his Kenyan phone had last pinged in Frankfurt.
“He just got here. And then he was gone,” his grandson Byron told CNN. Byron graduated days later without his grandfather. The family marked Waithaka’s 73rd birthday on June 3, 2025, without him, and Elizabeth returned to Kenya on June 20.
Helicopters, dogs and heat sensors — then a reward
Police scoured the wooded areas around Calera with helicopters, drones, off-road vehicles, tracking dogs and infrared heat-seeking cameras, and found nothing. By June 2025, Calera Police Chief David Hyche said tips were dwindling. Investigators called homeless shelters and Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices — in case Waithaka, without his passport, had been stopped and could not prove he was in the country legally — and checked hospitals and truck stops, and contacted the FBI. A possible sighting in Cullman, after his flyer was shared widely, was never confirmed.
A year on, the search is not closed. In May 2026 the Calera Police Department held a news conference to announce that the Calera Police Foundation is offering a $1,000 reward for credible information that helps find him. Detectives said they do not believe he has left the county, while remaining open to that possibility. “I don’t know how to say it, but it’s been a tough year,” his son Willie said. “It just hasn’t been the same. So hopefully we can get closure this year.”
What is not known
Where Waithaka went after he walked out the gas station’s back door is unknown. Whether he entered the woods behind the station, was picked up again, or was hurt somewhere searchers could not reach has never been established. The last confirmed images of him are the doorbell camera at 11:08 a.m. and the gas-station footage at about 11:43 a.m. on May 15, 2025 — the day after he arrived in a country where he knew almost no one.
Have information?
Contact the Calera Police Department at 205-668-3505, or call 911. The Calera Police Foundation offers a $1,000 reward for credible information that helps find Reuben Waithaka. Even the smallest detail, his family says, could make a difference.
Timeline
- May 13, 2025 — Reuben and Elizabeth Waithaka board a flight from Nairobi, Kenya, traveling via Frankfurt to Atlanta.
- May 14, 2025 — They arrive in Calera, Alabama. After a fall on an Atlanta airport escalator injures his knee, hospital tests come back normal and he is discharged.
- May 15, 2025, 11:08 a.m. — Doorbell camera records him leaving his son’s Timberline home on foot, in khakis, a checkered shirt and black shoes.
- May 15, 2025, ~11:43 a.m. — Last confirmed sighting: gas-station surveillance about two miles away shows him entering the restroom and leaving through the back door.
- Days later, May 2025 — His grandson Byron graduates from high school without him.
- June 3, 2025 — His family marks his 73rd birthday while he is missing.
- June 2025 — Calera Police Chief David Hyche says tips are dwindling; shelter, hospital and ICE checks continue.
- May 2026 — One year on: Calera Police announce a $1,000 Calera Police Foundation reward; detectives say they do not believe he left the county. He is still missing.
FAQ
Is Reuben Waithaka still missing?
Yes. As of 2026, more than a year after he disappeared, he has not been found. In May 2026 the Calera Police Department renewed its appeal and announced a $1,000 reward for credible information.
Where was Reuben Waithaka last seen?
At a gas station about two miles from his son’s home in the Timberline area of Calera, Alabama, at about 11:43 a.m. on May 15, 2025. Surveillance footage showed him entering the restroom and leaving through the back door. He had been recorded by the home’s doorbell camera leaving the house at 11:08 a.m.
What happened to Reuben Waithaka?
That is not known. Visiting from Kenya for his grandson’s graduation, he walked out of his son’s house the morning after arriving, accepted two short rides, and was last confirmed on gas-station video. Searches with helicopters, drones, dogs and heat sensors found no trace of him, and detectives say they do not believe he left the county.
What does Reuben Waithaka look like?
He is about 5 feet 5 inches tall and 160 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair. He was last seen wearing khaki pants, a blue-and-white checkered shirt and black shoes, and walking with a limp from a knee injury.
Is there a reward?
Yes. The Calera Police Foundation offers $1,000 for credible information that helps find him, announced by the Calera Police Department in May 2026.
How long has Reuben Waithaka been missing?
Since May 15, 2025 — about 17 months as of October 20, 2026. He was 72 when he disappeared and turned 73 on June 3, 2025, while missing.
Who is investigating?
The Calera Police Department, at 205-668-3505.
How can I help?
Report any information — however small — to the Calera Police Department at 205-668-3505, and share his photograph in Shelby County and the Birmingham area, where detectives believe he most likely remains.
Sources
- News (one-year update): WBMA ABC 33/40, “One year later, search continues for missing Kenyan man last seen in Calera” (May 2026 — Calera Police news conference; $1,000 Calera Police Foundation reward; last seen May 15, 2025, in the Timberline area near the Calera Sports Hunting Club; detectives do not believe he left the county; Chief David Hyche on shelter and ICE checks; tips to 205-668-3505).
- News: CNN, “He flew 8,000 miles to attend his first grandson’s high school graduation. The next day he vanished” (July 2025 — arrived May 14, 2025; matching shirts and childhood photos in his suitcase; doorbell camera 11:08 a.m. in khakis and a blue-and-white checked shirt; gas station about 30 minutes later, restroom and back door; 5-foot-5, 160 pounds; agitation on the Frankfurt–Atlanta flight, Atlanta escalator fall, normal CT scan; searches with helicopters, drones, dogs and heat sensors found nothing; 73rd birthday marked June 3, 2025).
- News: Diaspora Messenger, “Reuben Waithaka: 72-year-old Kenyan Man Still Missing Since May” (June 2025 — full name Reuben Barua Waithaka; last seen ~11 a.m. in the Timberline neighborhood off Highway 25; Missing and Endangered Person Alert; possible Cullman sighting from a widely shared flyer; dark Jeep Grand Cherokee contact on Highway 25; Calera Police 205-668-3505; family photograph).
- News: CBS 42 WIAT coverage of the last-seen video (2025 — wife Elizabeth Barua on his confused departure; gas-station footage shows his limp, hands behind his back, at about 11:43 a.m.).
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 20, 2026.