Looking for Peter in Pasco and beyond

PASCO -- Nearly every day for seven weeks, someone in the Tri-Cities has been shown or given a flier about a missing 21-year-old Pasco man.

Peter Sullivan was reported missing July 10, a day after he last was seen by his older brother, Brandon.

The last confirmed sighting of him was July 19 near the Stonegate Apartments on Road 68, his family said.

Pasco police list Sullivan as a "missing endangered adult," and his parents fear he may be in trouble.

"He's not a good judge of character and is very naive," said his mother, Nancy Sullivan. "He's very gullible. If presented an idea he was intrigued by, he'll go along without thinking of the consequences."

Terry Sullivan, Peter's father, explained that his sons grew up as missionary kids in many countries. The Sullivans are missionaries with Wycliffe Bible Translators and work with SIL International in Benin and Togo, West Africa.

They worked as linguists or translators among the Aja people, a minority language group in Benin and Togo. French is the official language in Benin, but the Sullivans helped create the written words for Aja, the local spoken language, said Terry Sullivan.

Benin is home to the Sullivans, but they claim the Tri-Cities -- Richland specifically -- as their adopted home when they're on furlough and return to the United States.

Terry Sullivan used to be an engineer at Hanford and went to West Side Church in Richland before he began missionary work in the 1980s. He met and married Nancy and they began working as Bible translators in 1983.

Their kids have attended schools in Richland -- both Peter and Brandon are Richland High graduates -- and were homeschooled oversees, Terry Sullivan said.

Always being on the move meant Peter didn't develop strong childhood friendships, which led him to be withdrawn and quiet around people he doesn't know or feels judged by, his mother said.

But, she added with a laugh, if he's comfortable around someone he "can go on and on and on."

Peter also has attention deficit disorder and takes Ritalin, which helps him concentrate, his mother said. Since Peter's been gone, he hasn't had his medication, but she said, "He's smart enough he can do what he needs to do without it."

Still, Peter very much likes to stick to a routine.

He knew the buses he had to take to get to Columbia Basin College. His parents said they have been told he still went to CBC to hang out at the HUB even though he wasn't signed up for classes during winter or spring quarters.

Peter also worked at Walmart on Road 68 in the parking lot rounding up carts.

His parents had been in Benin for about 18 months. Peter initially lived with a family from church in Richland, then in February moved into the Stonegate Apartments with Brandon.

The apartments on Road 68 made it convenient for Peter to walk to work or to nearby stores.

The Sullivans said there may have been some tension between Peter and his brother over normal sibling or roommate issues and because Peter had a hard time managing his money.

Brandon last saw Peter on July 9 before he left to go to Seattle. When Brandon returned home the next day, Peter was gone and hadn't shown up for work.

Brandon found a note at home from Peter saying goodbye. The Sullivans said the note indicates he chose to leave on his own, but they don't think he's on his own.

"We think he's with someone because he doesn't have the initiative (to find food and shelter on his own)," said his mother. "He's not street smart by any imagination."

Terry Sullivan said he thinks if his son was wandering around on his own he would have returned home by now.

Peter didn't take anything with him -- his clothes, jacket and backpack were all left behind. He's also not using his debit card.

Peter was seen on security video at Walgreens on Road 68 around 2 p.m. July 9, about 20 minutes after Brandon left for Seattle. He bought cereal, milk and bread, which is not out of the ordinary. But Peter also bought cough syrup, which his parents said is unusual because he wasn't sick.

Then he failed to show up for his 2:30 p.m. shift at Walmart.

At 5:22 p.m., he was at Walgreens again buying a butane lighter. Peter doesn't smoke and his parents don't know why he would need a lighter.

The items he bought on his first trip to Walgreens were found in the apartment unopened.

Ten days later, Peter was seen by the apartment manager walking along the sidewalk in front of the Stonegate Apartments. At the time, the manager didn't know he was missing.

That was the last confirmed sighting.

Members of West Side Church, co-workers at Walmart and the Sullivans have been focusing search efforts around Road 68 and in Kennewick. They've also checked homeless shelters.

They've posted missing person fliers and talked to just about anyone they see.

The Sullivans were in Benin when they learned their son was missing. They had spent the day in meetings with public officials presenting the first books ever written in Aja.

"The first 36 hours I just shut down," Nancy Sullivan said. "I was so upset I couldn't breathe right."

West Side Church leaders told the Sullivans they would help provide airfare, a car and a place for them to stay and the Sullivans began making plans to get back to the Tri-Cities.

But July and August are busy travel times for the French, and just about every flight out of the country was booked.

Two seats opened up July 23 that took them through Casablanca, Morocco and New York. The trip took 45 hours -- a normal route through Paris takes about 26 hours -- all without updates on the search for Peter.

"We were living off those e-mails, almost literally living off those e-mails," which were filled with words of encouragement and Bible verses, Nancy Sullivan said.

"It was a very traumatic experience. But you know, you have to walk through the valley of death to get to the other side," she said.

The Sullivans say they're grateful to be home, to lean on their friends in the church and "collect hugs."

They're also thankful for the support Walmart has given them -- employees had a candlelight vigil for Peter on July 29 -- and now just need their son home safe.

If they could send a message to Peter, his mother said, they'd want him to know, "Mom and Dad are back and there's nothing he could have done that would be so awful we wouldn't love him anymore."

His father added, "No matter what, he can come home. He's loved by everybody and everybody misses him."

Anyone who has seen Peter or has information about his whereabouts is asked to call Pasco police at 509-545-3484 or 509-545-3510.

* Paula Horton: 509-582-1556; phorton@tricityherald.com