For the friends of Atlanta-area musician Steven Marchi, the tip-off that something might be amiss wasn’t just that he left home without his guitar and cell phone and didn’t come back, but also that he left behind a week’s worth of produce.
Marchi, 43, is a vegan, and he had just purchased vegetables and had cut them up and put them away before leaving the townhouse he shares with Jeffrey Powell off Buford Highway and North Druid Hills Road in DeKalb County.
“His roommate, Jeffrey, saw him leave around 8 p.m. Aug. 12, and he had his backpack,” said Kelley Hagen, a friend who lives in Atlanta. “He said, ‘Hey Jeffrey, going out for a bit, see you later.’ Nothing out of the ordinary.”
That was on a Friday night.
Powell said that Marchi "normally pays me rent every week, and he’s really good about that – he’s lived with me about a year now – and when I didn’t see him all day Sunday, I thought maybe he’s gone off or maybe he met somebody and went somewhere.
“Then I didn’t see him Monday, so I texted him and got no response,” Powell said. “On Wednesday I called – I’m really, really worried at this point. It was probably Thursday that I started looking around in his room and realized his cell phone was there; my calls had been going to voice mail.”
Additionally, Hagen said, Marchi’s debit card has gone unused. She knows because he gets text messages on his phone about his bank balance, and it hasn’t changed since Aug. 12.
Powell said, “I know he’s a grown man and can do whatever he wants, but it’s his guitar that really worries everyone. He wouldn’t go off without his guitar – that’s his heart and soul.”
Hagen said she can’t imagine her friend leaving town without his guitar because “that’s how he makes money. If he does go on a road trip, he’d bring his guitar and play it.”
The acoustic and folk-rock musician and composer moved to Atlanta from Chicago and has lived here several years except for a six- to eight-month sojourn in Los Angeles, Powell said. He played such venues as Eddie’s Attic in Decatur and Red Light Café and Smith’s Olde Bar in Atlanta.
Marchi also is a freelance massage therapist who treats clients in their homes, Hagen said.
When last seen, Marchi was wearing a gray T-shirt and black shorts. He drives a dark green 1998 Dodge Ram 4×4 pickup truck with a camper top and Illinois license plates, 40 250 H.
His friends filed a missing persons report with DeKalb County police on Aug. 22. Now, they’re putting out the word for anyone with information about Marchi to contact the DeKalb police Special Victims Unit, 770-724-7710.
“There is no evidence of foul play at this point in this case,” said DeKalb police spokeswoman Mekka Parish. “However, it is concerning that Mr. Marchi left home without his cell phone and guitar, which according to friends these items have significance to him. … Detectives continue to follow up on leads.”
Hagen said she’s been reminded by police that her missing friend “is a 40-something-year-old grown man, and he can come and go as he pleases.”
Powell said, “He’s pretty much a free spirit – that’s why I waited” to report him missing. “ I just keep hoping he’ll turn back up, but at this point I don’t know what to do.”
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