By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Authorities are turning to the public for help to find the relatives of a Centralia man who died last month
Robert Aita, 63, passed away at Providence Centralia Hospital on Oct. 3 of natural causes, according to Lewis County Coroner Warren McLeod.
Among his office’s responsibilities is notifying next-of-kin but so far, they have found none, according to McLeod.
“Everyone we have spoken to during our follow-up investigations who knew the decedent stated he never spoke of any family,” McLeod said in a news release.
The coroner indicates he’d rather not have someone read about the death of a loved one in the news media, but after conducting various unsuccessful searches, felt it was prudent.
Aita lived in Centralia with his girlfriend who also recently passed away, and a law enforcement database search turned up only his deceased wife Cynthia Aita, according to McLeod.
Some possibilities arose by looking at Facebook, including a Robert Aita Jr. but so far subjects contacted in Pennsylvania and Florida said he wasn’t their relation, according to the coroner.
Aita is a U.S. Army veteran, and if no family is located to claim his remains, he would be covered for burial under the Operation At Ease program established by the coroner’s office in 2011.
McLeod says they are developing information Aita may have come from Chicago and was the son of a pediatrician. He’s learned the father and son founded a youth camp in East Troy, Wisconsin and is pursuing that lead.
McLeod asks anyone who may have known him who has any information regarding possible relatives of Aita to contact his office at 360-740-1376.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Sorry… got in a rush with typing and after rereading my post, I found two typos: Francis (not Frances) for his middle name and Aita (not Alta) for his last. My apologies on those.
Sharyn,
I did some research through my Ancestry.com account and other free resources, and was able to find the following information. I hope it helps in finding Robert’s family and allowing for him to receive a proper burial or resting place.
Robert Frances Alta was born on May 09, 1940 (possibly in Pennsylvania). He married Cynthia Sue Stuart (b. Sept. 20, 1951) in Reno, Washoe County, Nevada on July 23, 1990. Both were listed on the marriage certificate as residents of Myrtle Creek, Oregon. In a residence record, Cynthia had been listed as living there from 1997-2001 (prior to that, she had lived in Forks of Salmon, CA).
Upon finding Robert’s birth date, I was able to track him back to his family in Burlington, New Jersey. His father is believed to have been Frank (an immigrant from Italy and possibly born in 1908-ish), while he also had either a mother or sister was named Frances. Unfortunately both relatives are listed as deceased, so I wonder if any of the historical societies or local officials know of any relatives as they must be buried locally. The home everyone was listed as living at was 13 Kingsbridge Dr., Burlington (Township), NJ 08016, and Frank was last listed as living there in 1993 while Frances was listed as a resident well into the mid-2000s.
While Robert had also lived in Philadelphia (2809 Tremont St., Philadelphia, PA 19136), I’m uncertain if there is more information to be had. He also lived at 1421 Harrison Ave in Centralia in 1995; in Winlock at 179 Rarey Rd from 1998-2002, and even on Winston Creek Rd in Mossyrock.
Again, I hope this information helps.
Maybe they could contact the NSA. All they have to do is pick up the phone…and they won’t even have to dial the number.
Are they sure of his age? There is a Robert Francis Aita , age 73 listed on Intelius.com which states he has resided in Mossyrock, WA, Onalaska, WA, Centralia, WA, Winlock, WA and Myrtle Creek, OR
Intelius also lists this Robert Aita’s relatives as…
Cynthia Aita
Shawna Smith
Rachel Smith
If he’s a Army Veteran why not look there for some kind of answer?
If he is a army veteran why don’t they look for answers there?
Wow really Sharyn? Dead end at trying to locate next of kin? Wow really bad pun.