Cops: Missing Naperville man took cabs, trains to downstate college

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Charles Catlett Jr., 21, of Naperville, who was missing since Monday morning, has been found.

Updated: March 4, 2012 8:18AM

The young man who vanished Monday morning from his family’s house on Naperville’s far southwest side apparently took a circuitous trip of some 250 miles from Naperville to Joliet to Chicago to downstate Mattoon, before going twice to the campus of Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Naperville police said Thursday.

Charles R. Catlett Jr., 21, known to family and friends as Rich, was found Tuesday and brought back to his parent’s home in the city’s Clow Creek neighborhood. Catlett, who is autistic, appeared to be healthy and none the worse for wear following his travels.

A police investigation concluded Catlett left his house about 2 a.m. Monday, Sgt. Gregg Bell said. He made his way to Joliet Union Station, possibly by taking a taxicab, Bell said via e-mail.

He then took a Metra Railway train to Union Station in downtown Chicago, “where he purchased a ticket to Mattoon,” Bell said. “From there, he caught a cab to Eastern Illinois University” in Charleston, and reportedly arrived on campus about 11 a.m. Monday, Bell said.

Catlett then tried unsuccessfully to enter one of the school’s dormitories, Bell said. “Campus police gave him a ride to a local hotel, where he stayed the night.”

Bell said Catlett the next morning took another taxi back to the campus and tried again without success to enter the same dormitory. He also “gave police inaccurate information concerning his identity,” Bell said.

University police returned him to the hotel, “but only after learning he (attended) school in Naperville,” Bell said. Police contacted local school officials who, in turn, called Naperville police, setting the stage for the family’s reuinon, Bell said.

Bell’s statement did not indicate what connection, if any, Catlett has to the university or why he apparently wanted to go there. His parents, Joan and Charles Catlett, have another son and a daughter.

Joan Catlett on Monday told The Sun Rich Catlett was to have started a new job that morning in food service at Edward Hospital in Naperville.

“He must’ve gotten a little confused, because he went on a new schedule today,” Joan Catlett said. “We wonder if there was some sort of disconnect there.”

She added her son had never left home before without telling family members where he was going. “He is not like that,” she said.

Scores of Naperville police officers and members of two emergency management agencies scoured the far southern and southwestern parts of town Monday in their search for Rich Catlett. A Chicago Police Department helicopter flew overhead about 2 p.m. Monday, searching the banks of the DuPage River and nearby wooded areas.

A note printed in bright red letters was taped Tuesday afternoon to the family’s front door. It proclaimed, “Rich Catlett was found safe! Thank you for your support and prayers.”