Search Continues For Brandon Jenkins; GoFundMe Campaign Established

Family, friends and community members continue looking for Brandon Jenkins, while a colleague has set up a GoFundMe campaign to help his mother.

Jenkins, 18, whose family lives on Maple Street, has been missing since Dec. 20, prompting a community-wide effort to find him.

“Brandon has been very active in the community. He has volunteered hundreds of hours at the various food banks around New Haven. He is an avid lover of animals. At age 14 he chose to be vegan because of his passion against the cruelty of animals. He is such a compassionate soul. His passion is helping others. You could always find him shoveling snow for his neighbors or going to the gym with his mom,” writes Melissa Fetera, a coworker of Brandon’s mother, Brenda Cuffy. ​“Brandon was last seen on December 20th around 7am in the New Haven Connecticut Area. He was last seen wearing a gray jacket, black boots and headphones. He is an introvert, and a homebody so for him to leave home and not return is very unusual and alarming.”

Fetera wrote those words on the page of this GoFundMe campaign, which she set up to support Cuffy through this ordeal.

She described the campaign’s goal: ​“to raise the funds needed for ongoing search efforts, such as for private investigators, billboards, and flyers. All monies will go directly to Brandon’s mom Brenda. Any donations, no matter how big or small, are gratefully appreciated.”

“Brenda has demonstrated extraordinary resilience this past year working on the front lines during this pandemic as a COVID ICU Nurse. As one of her coworkers who has witnessed so much loss already this past year, I cannot even begin to imagine the compounding pain of having to deal with a son who is missing,” Fetera wrote.