By Carla Zanoni
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — Police and family members are searching for the 32-year-old son of a woman who's popular for hosting jazz salons out of her home every Sunday for nearly 20 years.
Shaun Eliot, son of Marjorie Eliot, was last seen on Wednesday, Feb. 9, at 9 a.m. leaving her home at 555 Edgecombe Ave., between West 159th and West 160th streets, according to police and the missing man's worried mother.
Eliot, a man described by his mother as having mental illness and emotional problems, split his time between her home and a transitional living facility on Wards Island, where he has been living since June 2010.
When he left her house he was expected to take the M101 bus at Amsterdam Avenue and West 160th Street back to Wards Island.
"He always travels alone," Marjorie Eliot said. "He took the bus, his ordinary route, and he didn’t get there."
Shaun Eliot, who is approximately 5' 11" and weighs 255 pounds, was wearing blue jeans and a black leather jacket and had $10 and a MetroCard with a few rides left on it, according to his mother and police.
Marjorie Eliot originally hesitated to go public with the news that Shaun was missing because she didn't want to publicize his issues, but is now reaching out to friends, family and neighbors to ask for help. She said she has been working with the 25th Precinct to locate him.
"I want to send out a message to anybody who sees him to not hurt him," she said. "We know the way of the world, he is a black man who is not dangerous. He is not a threatening, mean person. He just needs help."
Jazz lovers and supporters who attended Eliot’s salon on Sunday, Feb. 20, received a photo of her son in the hope of spreading the word about his disappearance.
Eliot said she has been heartened by the outpouring of support she has received from the Upper Manhattan community and still trusted that someone will find her son.
"Somebody knows something," she said. "I’m racing against hope."
