By Carol Tannenhauser
On September 25, Drexyll Tolstoy, a 26-year-old tattoo artist, never came home from work to the apartment on W. 107th Street and Columbus Avenue that he shared with an ex-girlfriend.
One month later, on October 23rd, the police released a photo of Tolstoy, and the Rag posted it, at the NYPD’s request, along with a call for information and help in finding the missing young man.
Nothing happened, but the story of Tolstoy clearly struck a chord in the neighborhood; it rose to become the second most-read Rag story of 2022.
Now, two-and-a-half months after his disappearance, Tolstoy’s family has started a gofundme campaign to raise money to come to New York City from their home in Detroit, MI, and deploy a search team to find — or find out what happened to — Drexyll.
His mother wrote:
I am a Persian Gulf Navy veteran. My son Drexyll disappeared from NYC on September 25, 2022. His father is also a Persian Gulf Navy veteran. We are raising $10,000 to bring a search team of family and friends from Detroit to NYC to search for Drexyll. The NYPD has NO LEADS. Drexyll disappeared without a trace, with no phone use, no bank activity, no use of his metro pass, and without even his I.D. Drexyll is kind, soft spoken, loves animals, and is missed greatly by his loved ones. He has NEVER gone without contacting his family or friends. Never not shown up for work and for his clients. The NYPD has thousands of missing people reported every year, and as a result they focus on children and vulnerable seniors (understandably). We hope to raise enough money to fund a search for Drexyll. We are afraid that something bad has happened, and we need to find him. We hope to travel from Detroit, Mi to NYC and work with friends and family in New York to search for him, find him, and get him to safety. Any donation you can make is greatly appreciated! Please share info about the search for Drexyll and this fundraising effort. If you have any information or would like to help in the search, please let us know!
You can go to the gofundme page by clicking here.
Very strange for a person to vanish without a trace so long ago and I understand why the family wants to do something but might it not be a better use of the gofundme funds to hire a professional private detective agency?
can you volunteer to help be on the ground? the more we get the word out the more we can help. NYPD is doing their job and we are looking into a PI who has a specialty in these types of cases. appreciate any assist you can contribute. thank you for your concern.
People might talk more freely to family members.