Husband: Romey

Location: Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York
Missing Husband: Lolenzo “Linzo”

Disappeared: January 2025
Relationship Length: Approximately 5 Years (Wedding Ceremony in June 2024)

Love Story

• Romey met Lolenzo through Facebook Dating in January 2020. Lolenzo pursued him relentlessly, sending constant messages and checking in throughout the day. After about a month of texting, they finally met at a park in Brooklyn. Concerns about COVID-19 meant their in-person meeting had to be carefully planned, but when they did meet, the chemistry was immediate, and Romey felt he had found his person.

• Not long after their meeting, Lolenzo quarantined at Romey’s apartment, turning a new romance into a shared life almost overnight. They quickly fell in love. And hard. Romey’s outgoing personality balanced Lolenzo’s quieter demeanor.

• Their families embraced the relationship. Lolenzo’s sister called Romey her “brother-in-love,” and Romey’s niece and nephew quickly began calling Lolenzo their uncle.

Marriage & Building a Life Together

• Originally from Huntsville, Alabama, Romey built a career in digital marketing and public relations in New York City. He covered most of their expenses, including rent, travel, dinners, and entertainment, while Lolenzo contributed toward groceries and utilities. Romey wanted to give Lolenzo a comfortable life and help him pay down his debt.

• In 2021, they moved into a new apartment together. That year, Romey adopted a dog named Soju after losing the dog he had raised since college. Soju became an important part of their shared life, although the adoption paperwork and microchip registration were solely in Romey’s name.

• Approximately two years into the relationship, Romey proposed with an engraved ring. He secretly arranged a celebration with friends and family, telling guests they were celebrating Lolenzo’s return to college before surprising everyone with their engagement. Romey had never felt this way about anyone. He had always been a dater, but settling down was a big deal to Romey.

• Lolenzo was previously married to Romey and was going through an ongoing separation and divorce that was dragging out over three years. Despite this the couple pursued the wedding. 

• They held a wedding ceremony on June 23, 2024, incorporating Thai-inspired outfits and Puerto Rican food to celebrate their backgrounds. However, they did not legally marry because Lolenzo’s divorce from his previous husband, Carlos, was still being finalized.

• The couple didn’t want to wait until Lolenzo’s divorce was finalized to have a ceremony, so they went ahead with the wedding, planning to legally marry once the divorce was complete.

• They honeymooned in Thailand in late November, returning to New York in early December. Lolenzo’s finalized divorce paperwork arrived shortly after their return, seemingly clearing the way for them to make their marriage legal.

Disappearance

• One morning in January 2025, just weeks after their honeymoon, Lolenzo abruptly told Romey before leaving for work that he needed to discuss their relationship. He promised they would talk after work but instead went out for drinks and did not return until approximately 1 a.m.

• When they finally spoke early that morning, Lolenzo offered vague grievances about how Romey was needy in their relationship. This left Romey confused and upset, and the two decided to go to bed in separate rooms.

• Lolenzo was gone when Romey woke up but returned later that day. He said he needed a couple of weeks away to clear his head and think about the relationship and would stay with a friend from work but would eventually return. He asked to take Soju so he would not be alone. Romey agreed to a temporary arrangement, making clear that Soju remained his dog and he would need to be returned.

• Lolenzo packed his belongings and left with Soju. Over the following days, Romey asked how the dog was doing. Lolenzo assured him Soju would be taken care of, then began blocking him.

Attempts to Find Him

• Initially, Romey tried calling, texting, and emailing. He received occasional responses, but soon afterward, he was blocked across all communication platforms.

• Their shared friends had originally been Romey’s friends; Lolenzo didn’t have his own established circle in the city when they met. Romey struggled to find anyone who could help him locate Lolenzo.

• Romey searched paid people-finder websites, but the results only returned old addresses or addresses associated with Lolenzo’s family. He could not locate a current address.

• He posted appeals on Instagram, Threads, and Nextdoor, asking anyone who had seen Lolenzo or Soju to contact him.

• He reached out to Lolenzo’s sister, with whom he previously had a close relationship, hoping she could help. She blocked him.

• Romey considered contacting the police but was afraid that involving law enforcement could put Lolenzo, who is Black and Puerto Rican, in danger. The death of George Floyd and the concerns about police violence highlighted by the Black Lives Matter movement weighed heavily on him. Despite feeling betrayed, Romey did not want Lolenzo to get hurt and feared he would feel responsible if something happened after he called the police.

• Soju belonged to Romey, and their agreement had been that Lolenzo would take him only temporarily. To Romey, Lolenzo had stolen his pet. He contacted a pet detective to help get his dog back and get in touch with Lolenzo, but he could not afford the detective’s fee.

• As part of his lawsuit seeking Soju’s return, Romey hired a process server to locate Lolenzo at his last known workplace, Housing Works. The server learned Lolenzo had left the job, and his former supervisor could not provide a new location.

• Lolenzo responded to the process server’s text with a thumbs-up emoji but never arranged to meet or accept the paperwork. Without a current address, Romey has been unable to locate and serve him. The case is still ongoing.

Unanswered Questions

• After financially supporting Lolenzo for years, Romey now questions whether he was being used for financial stability while Lolenzo paid off his debt. Was he simply used for money and convenience?

• Romey knows that Lolenzo is a military veteran and was previously married to a man named Carlos. When they first met, Lolenzo said he was staying with a friend, but Romey later realized he had been couch-surfing. Romey now questions whether Lolenzo had a stable living situation when he moved to New York City—or whether he was looking for someone to take him in permanently.

• Romey has unanswered questions about Lolenzo’s military service, family, and relationship history. What really happened during his marriage to Carlos? Does he have a pattern of intensely pursuing partners, building a life with them, and then abruptly leaving?

• Romey also wants to know whether Lolenzo’s departure was planned. When he asked to take Soju for a couple of weeks, had he already decided he would never return?

• Romey has reason to believe Lolenzo was having an affair. After Lolenzo left, Romey’s sister sent him a photo of Lolenzo vacationing with another man in Jamaica. Romey contacted the man to ask when they met and whether their relationship had overlapped with his own relationship with Lolenzo, including the time of their wedding. The man blocked him without answering.

• Recently, however, the man responded to Romey’s earlier message, questioning whether Romey was as manipulative as Lolenzo had portrayed him and saying he was breaking up with Lolenzo. Shocked, Romey tried to respond but discovered he had already been blocked again.

• Romey and his friends are unsure what to make of the unexpected message and repeated blocking. They even wonder whether Lolenzo could have been behind the message, using the other man’s account to seek information or indirectly engage with Romey. They have no confirmation of who sent it.

Why He Needs to Find Him Now

• Romey wants a direct explanation for why Lolenzo participated in their wedding and honeymoon before abruptly leaving. He wants to know when the other relationship began and how much of their life together was genuine. Were they ever truly in love?

• Romey wants Soju back. He never transferred ownership or agreed to give Lolenzo the dog permanently. Finding Lolenzo could help him pursue the return of a dog he considers family.

• Lolenzo’s disappearance has made it difficult for Romey to trust new partners or move forward. He feels he needs answers in order to move on. Despite his anger, he admits that part of him still loves Lolenzo.

• His ideal outcome is a mediated, face-to-face conversation with Lolenzo and a reunion with Soju. He wants Lolenzo to explain what happened, take responsibility for how he left, and finally allow Romey to close this chapter.