An official in St. Louis is on the hunt for a missing homeless man — who also happens to be a millionaire.
St. Louis Alderman Joseph Vaccaro has not seen Gary Schaefer for about three years and began searching for his old pal as the city continues to grapple with a homelessness problem.
“All of a sudden I’m thinking about him,” Vaccaro told The Post. “I got too busy, and I don’t know if he’s dead, alive … I don’t think he’d leave the area.”
Years ago, Vaccaro promised Schaefer’s mother that he’d watch out for her “defiant” son.
After her death, he transferred her cash and bonds totaling nearly a million dollars to an account in Schaefer’s name. Schaefer also has a pension from his time working for the St. Louis Fire Department.
But Schaefer didn’t want any part of the money, preferring to live near a creek in Maplewood, Missouri.
“He didn’t want to conform to any rules,” Vaccaro said.
Over the last eight years that Schaefer has lived on the streets, Vaccaro sometimes went by the creek to catch up. He’d also host the vagrant at his home and “he would smell pretty bad, permeate everything, but I liked him.”
“He always called me ‘pal,'” Vaccaro said. “He’d say, ‘You should see all the good food people throw away in dumpsters.'”
“He’s very happy being homeless, and he’s also smart, a chess player.”
Following a recent city board meeting, Vaccaro was speaking to a KMOX radio reporter about the different reasons people end up living on the streets and realized: “Hey, I know a guy whose a millionaire who chooses to live in a creek.”
After the local radio station did a story on Schaefer Tuesday, Vaccaro said he received three calls from people who believed they’d spotted the vagabond. The story’s reporter was also out looking for Schaefer Wednesday night, Vaccaro said.
Maplewood police told the outlet they are asking residents who spot a man matching Schaefer’s description to contact them.
He’s described as thin, about 6-feet tall and in his 70s, with a scraggly white hair, a beard, and paint on his fingernails.
“Hopefully the best part of this story is yet to come,” Vaccaro said. “He’s not going to change his lifestyle, but it would be nice to know he’s OK.”