Great Neck man still missing despite sightings

Reported sightings of a Great Neck man who went missing Monday indicate he is physically OK, but remains lost, confused and wandering close to home, possibly with a "neurological condition," family members said Friday morning.

Steven Mayer, 62, a metals trader who works in Huntington, was last seen Monday morning driving a 2010 four-door silver Nissan Sentra on his daily commute. Since then, about a half-dozen sightings have been made, family said, including in Long Beach, Manhasset, Franklin Square and West Hempstead.

Nassau County police said Friday it could not verify any of the sightings and had no updates on the case.

Aliza Mayer, 28, of Passaic, N.J., Mayer's daughter-in-law, said relatives don't know why Mayer doesn't just come home. The missing man does not have any known neurological conditions, she said, but "we know he is confused and evidence is that it is something neurological."

Mayer had surgery to remove a brain tumor in 1999, she said, but brain scans every six months, including one in July, showed everything was normal. He takes anti-seizure medication, family said, but doctors told them going without the medicine likely is not a reason for his confusion.

Since Mayer was reported missing, posters and news reports have indicated he could have amnesia or dementia. "He does not have these conditions that we know of," Aliza Mayer said. "What we're saying is that these are conditions he could have."

Mark Klinger of Oceanside, Mayer's son-in-law, said the half-dozen reported sightings include one late Thursday from two nurses at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, about a mile or two from his Great Neck home.

One nurse told Klinger she had seen Mayer early Thursday in the hospital lobby. Another nurse confirmed she had seen the same man. But Klinger said his wife, Debbie, reviewed 4 1/2 hours of security video and could not identify her father.

Another report from Long Beach said a man in a Nissan was asking directions Tuesday to "the Five Towns" around 11 p.m., Klinger said. "But when the man asked him where in the Five Towns, he couldn't answer."

Another report from West Hempstead said a woman recognized the last four digits on the license plates of Mayer's car because they matched the last four digits of a friend's phone number.

A helper for a Franklin Square florist told family he saw Mayer about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday in the alley behind the floral shop.

Klinger said people have phoned in tips to a hotline set up by the family, but hours after they've seen Mayer. "They come home from work and see a newspaper or hear something on TV and then remember," Klinger said. "We want to keep this in the news so people will recognize him immediately and then call police or the hotline."

Mayer is 5 feet, 8 inches tall, weighs about 180 pounds, has brown hair and wears glasses. His Nissan has the New York license plate number EWN-4035.

Nassau police Tuesday issued a "silver alert," urging the public to be on the lookout for Mayer. The family asks anyone who sees him to call 911 or the family at 516-847-5005.