Family, Friends Search For Missing LI Dad: 'We Just Want To Find Him'

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Claudine McShea said she and Margolies, as well as McShea’s close friend from high school, Harold Sakin, have united in their shared quest to bring him home safely. McShea, Margolies, and Sakin all attended Garden City High School together and grew up in the same neighborhood.

Although they hadn’t been in constant contact, Claudine said she’d heard from McShea’s sister that he was missing; she’d called Claudine to see if she’d heard from him.

She hadn’t. And neither has Margolies or Sakin.

“Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into a month,” Claudine said. “I couldn’t sit back and do nothing. I still care about him. He’s the father of my kids.”

Claudine and McShea were married for 15 years; they share two children, ages 12 and 9.

McShea was a well-known voice in the Greenport community who frequently attended village board meetings to speak out passionately against a PSEG underwater electric cable project that he believed could pose health and safety concerns for local residents — and the children of the community, his own included.

Claudine said his disappearance has left her “riddled with anxiety for quite some time. I can never really put it out of my mind,” she said. “My kids just want to find their dad.”

Claudine said she’s grateful for the new bond she’s formed with Margolies and Sakin. “I’d never spoken to this woman before, and I hadn’t spoken to Harry in more than five years. Now, we text constantly,” she said. In addition, she added, the three have been overwhelmed by the support and love they’ve received as a result of their social media post.

“Hopefully, it will lead us in the right direction,” Claudine said. “People we don’t even know have been sharing the post. It’s been amazing.”

Margolies also shared her deep worry for McShea. “We’re all so heartbroken,” she said.

Although she and McShea has broken up, she’s learned he was missing when Sakin reached out to see if he was with her. “That’s how I ended up getting involved,” she said, adding that Sakin grew up around the block from her and McShea, a few blocks away. “Everything comes back to Garden City High School,” she said.

“At the end of the day, I care about him so much,” Margolies said. “He has a good heart, and is such a genuinely good person, with a heart of gold. I love him, I really do. I just want to find him, so he’s there for his kids.”

Margolies agreed the search has brought the three together. “The outpouring of support we’ve received from high school friends, the calls from people asking, ‘What can we do to help?'”

Two days ago, a tip came in that McShea may have been seen in Floral Park; police investigated but were unable to find him.

Margolies, after the tip, also drove around Floral Park for hours, searching. “I’ve also gone out and handed out missing person flyers in all the places where he might be.”

Asked what she would say if she could get a message to McShea, Margolies said: “I don’t know if he realizes how many people care about him, and are worried about him. We just want him to come home. He’s loved — and he just needs to come home.”

If you see McShea, call 516- 522-0270.

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