RPCV Bill Fitzpatrick’s Family Holds Funeral But His Remains Have Yet To Be Recovered.

Bill Fitzpatrick (Sierra Leone 1987-89) was a airplane pilot for 25 years working in Africa on conservation projects, emergency law enforcement, search and rescue, medical and fire incidents. His plane disappeared in June of 2013 and plane with his remains has recently been discovered in Cameroon, but the family has been unable to rescue them. The family had asked for help from anyone, including RPCVs who might be able to help them secure the appropriate help to recover his remains. Read John Coyne’s article on this effort. Here is the link:

https://peacecorpsworldwide.org/bill-fitzpatrick/

Now, the family has held a funeral, even though they continue to hope to ultimately recover the remains. Here is the link: http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/Ridgefield-man-seeks-closure-even-without-6376148.php

The US State Department has issued a travel warning to those considering travel to Cameroon. This may be why the family is having difficulty. From the US State Department:

“The Department of State warns U.S. citizens of the high risk of traveling to Cameroon and cautions U.S. citizens to avoid all travel to the Far North region of Cameroon. This replaces the Travel Warning of August 6, 2014 and updates information on the continuing threat of kidnappings and other armed attacks in the Far North region of Cameroon.”

Read the entire warning: http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/alertswarnings/cameroon-travel-warning.html”

As of September 30, 2013, there were 205 Peace Corps Volunteers in Cameroon. The country is still open.