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Read the press release here.

Missing LGBT Publisher Dane Tidwell 'Safe,' Friend and Family Say

By Linze Rice | August 21, 2015 3:49pm | Updated on August 24, 2015 8:07am
 The first photo, sent to DNAinfo by Tidwell's friend Gerald Farinas, is supposedly one of the
The first photo, sent to DNAinfo by Tidwell's friend Gerald Farinas, is supposedly one of the "last photos" taken of Tidwell. The other shows Tidwell without his glasses, which were not with him at the time he was last seen.
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EDGEWATER — A friend of missing LGBT publisher Dane Tidwell said she was contacted via email on Friday by Tidwell, who assured her that he is alive and safe. Friday afternoon, family members of Tidwell said they also had been notified of his reappearance.

Opus Media CEO Tidwell has been missing since Aug. 13, according to friends, who said they were fearful for his life. But family members said Tidwell has gone missing in the past.

Tidwell's brother told DNAinfo Chicago that a Chicago Police detective had notified the family that he was alive and safe.

Gerald Farinas, a friend of Tidwell's, said on Aug. 13 around 11:30 a.m. Tidwell left his Uptown apartment he shared with his partner, Adam, before heading to Farinas' apartment in the 1000 block of West Granville Avenue in Edgewater, where he arrived around noon. Tidwell's friend explained what happened next in a statement:

"Using the front desk phone, he called to tell me he was downstairs.

"Dane told me to call his partner Adam, and two other close friends, saying that they need my help and that he was leaving his phone. I rushed downstairs and he was gone. The front desk attendant handed me his phone."

Tidwell is without his phone, IDs and wallet, his friend said.

On Friday, Tidwell's family said they received information from Farinas that the missing man was "safe," but Farinas — who sent out a press release following his friend's disappearance — did not return requests for comment Friday.

Officer Jose Estrada, a Chicago Police spokesman, said a missing persons report was filed for Tidwell, of the 4800 block of N. Magnolia, on Aug. 16 around 9 a.m.

Tidwell’s landlord Dr. Holger Schlageter told DNAinfo he last saw Tidwell Aug. 13, when he and the Cook County Sheriff's Department had gone to evict the couple from their apartment after the duo failed to pay rent for the past year.

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