Pastor reported missing

By Craig Urey
For The Daily Item

May 26, 2009 06:00 am

— LEWISBURG -- The Rev. Jose Rosa, a well-known Hispanic pastor in the area, has been reported missing by state police at Milton.
According to a police report issued Sunday evening, Rosa, 52, who lives at 1104 Sabra Way, may have been missing since Thursday.
About 11 a.m. that day, a neighbor saw Rosa -- wearing shorts, sneakers and backpack -- walking toward Lewisburg Penitentiary through a new housing development northeast of Kelly Elementary School.
That is the last he has been seen by family or friends, police reported.
Rosa is pastor of Congregacion Menonita Shalom in New Columbia.
In April, Rosa was featured in a Daily Item story about Hispanic church services in the Central Susquehanna Valley.
In May, Rosa appeared on WKOK's Leaders and Lawmakers program explaining Hispanic culture for Cinco de Mayo. He and his congregation recently hosted a Fiesta de Mayo event in Milton.
"This is a place where they can grow their families," Rosa told The Daily Item in an April story about Hispanic churches. "We've done nothing but go up (in numbers) since we started."
Earlier this month, Rosa celebrated the success of the Fiesta de Mayo in Milton.
"It went really well. We got more people than we expected," he told The Daily Item after the event.
Rosa and his wife and fellow pastor, Maggie, moved to the area about seven years ago to open their church, according to earlier reports.
Calls to the Rosa home were not answered on Sunday night.
Police are asking anyone with information about Rosa's whereabouts to call (570) 524-2662.

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