Detective's refusal to quit pays off

Chicago Police Det. Robert Berent is one of the best at cracking missing persons cases, his bosses say. He's handled them for 26 years.

His skills are evident in the case of elderly Jefferson Park resident Arthur Kolakowski, an Alzheimer's patient reported missing after failing to return from Kmart the evening of Jan. 9.

After searching through the night, Kolakowski's family filed a report with the Jefferson Park District on Jan. 10. The district forwarded the information to Missing Persons, which farmed it to the Area 5 detective division. There, Berent picked it up.

He interviewed family and learned Kolakowski was carrying no ID or money. Berent checked arrest and accident databases for recent reports, and sent alerts to hospitals and social service, transportation and law enforcement agencies.

After asking the family about areas that Kolakowski frequents, Berent got patrolmen and detectives to canvass the neighborhood. He reviewed Kmart surveillance tapes and determined Kolakowski never made it there.

On Jan. 11, police searched residential and business districts, and railroad embankments. Berent consulted an aerial map and wondered about nearby woods. The family said the missing man did not frequent them, so the search was concentrated elsewhere.

The morning of Jan. 12, Berent decided to hit the woods. He requested two dogs from the Canine Unit, and he and a couple of district cops spread out, staying in touch by radio. At 10:30 a.m., Kolakowski was found in the brush, dehydrated and frostbitten, but alive.