Skip to content
News
Link copied to clipboard

Parents worry about fate of missing son, 22, last seen in Bucks

Timothy Ceaser was last seen by his mother, who was waiting for him outside a 7-Eleven store at Bristol Pike and Neshaminy Road, in Croydon, at about 11:20 a.m. June 1, 2017.

Timothy Ceaser, 22, went missing after he left a 7-Eleven at Bristol Pike and Neshaminy Road in Croydon, Bucks County, on the morning of June 1, 2017. Here, he is seen in a 2013 photo.
Timothy Ceaser, 22, went missing after he left a 7-Eleven at Bristol Pike and Neshaminy Road in Croydon, Bucks County, on the morning of June 1, 2017. Here, he is seen in a 2013 photo.Read morePhiladelphia Police

Timothy Ceaser's mother and stepfather have been frantically searching for him over the last month and a half. The 22-year-old was last seen by his mother at a 7-Eleven in Croydon, Bucks County. They've even waded into the nearby Neshaminy Creek to look for him.

On the morning of June 1, Ceaser had gone into the convenience store at Bristol Pike and Neshaminy Road, his mother, Karen Gilbert, of Northeast Philadelphia, said Saturday. She thought she saw him getting into another car shortly after — and hasn't seen her son since.

Over the last week, some on social media have suggested a link between Ceaser's disappearance and Cosmo DiNardo, 20, one of two cousins arrested in connection with the deaths of four young men whose bodies were found last week at a 90-acre Solebury Township farm owned by DiNardo's parents.

But authorities say there is no evidence that DiNardo, of Bensalem, or his cousin, Sean Kratz, 20, of Northeast Philadelphia, had anything to do with Ceaser's disappearance. Gilbert, 50, and her husband, William, 51, also said they have no evidence that Ceaser knew DiNardo or was connected to him in any way.

The Philadelphia Police Department on Tuesday posted a missing-person notice about Ceaser. A supervisor with the Northeast Detective Division said Saturday that as far as detectives know, there's no connection between Ceaser's disappearance and DiNardo, who has reportedly confessed to participating in the Solebury killings and implicated Kratz.

Bucks County District Attorney Matthew D. Weintraub also said Saturday that he had no evidence of any link. "At this time there is no indication that his [Ceaser's] disappearance is tied to the murders of the four men in Solebury, or to Mr. DiNardo or Mr. Kratz," Weintraub said by email.

Karen Gilbert said her son was not, as far as she was aware, involved in using or selling marijuana or any other drugs.

He did have various medical issues, including suffering from Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a neurological disorder, and had recently said he was being threatened by someone, but didn't explain by whom or why.

Her son grew up in their Northeast Philadelphia house and has at various times lived with an aunt in Glen Mills, Delaware County, and another in Mullica Hill, Gloucester County. Most recently, he was living in Glen Mills.

On the night of May 31, he said he was receiving threatening computer messages, his mother said. He was acting strangely, but didn't explain, and early on June 1, his mother brought him to their Northeast Philadelphia house.

Later that morning, her son wanted her to drive him north on U.S. 13 (Bristol Pike) in Bucks County. Early on in that drive, Ceaser told his mother he wanted to walk home. That's when Gilbert pulled into the 7-Eleven parking lot and let him out.

It was about 11:20 a.m., she said. A surveillance camera inside the store showed Ceaser going inside, but not buying anything, his mother said.

Gilbert said she did a quick U-turn, then drove back near the store because she planned to follow her son. She was parked nearby when she saw a white car pull up on Bristol Pike and someone who looked like her son get into it. She saw the back of the male driver's head, which had jet-black hair. The car drove off. It was the last time Gilbert saw her son.

She reported his disappearance to Bristol Township and Philadelphia police.

Anyone with information on Ceaser's whereabouts is asked to call Northeast Detectives at 215-686-3153 or 911. Ceaser is 5-foot-10, with a thin build, hazel eyes, and short, straight, dirty-blond hair.

Tipsters can also call a non-law-enforcement tip line, run by the Know It All Intelligence Group, a private investigative firm that is working with the family, at 866-931-TIPS (8477). Calls will remain confidential.