02-25-2012, 07:58 AM
some background on Perdomo:
After marrying in April 2001, Perdomo and his wife, Tonya, lived in Orlando with their newborn daughter and attended Valencia Community College before he enlisted in the Marines on May 29, 2001 and moved the family to North Carolina, near Camp Lejeune.
During five months deployed to Iraq with the 2nd Light Armored unit, Marine Sgt. Jerry Perdomo engaged in three "big fire fights" that left him emotionally scarred, according to his sworn testimony in an auto negligence lawsuit.
In May 2005, he was discharged from his four-year commitment - including forays into Fallujah, Baghdad, Tikrit and Nasiriyah - with a "final discharge diagnosis" of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
"When I had (it) real bad, I kept having some flashbacks ... Just some of the stuff I seen. I kept reliving it almost," he testified in a deposition.
PTSD, along with injuries to his knee, back and neck, also caused him to take prescription painkillers, anti-inflammatories and other drugs, he said.
"When I had PTSD real bad, I was taking some sleeping pills," he said, adding he also took prescription anti-inflammatories for joint pain.
After the May 30, 2007 car accident, when his car was rear ended as it waited at a red light, he complained of insomnia, whiplash and lower back pain, for which he took painkillers.
The neck and back pain lingered at least until his August 2008 deposition, when he said, "I always try to do stretches for my neck. Usually pain killers help a little bit."
The lawsuit was settled in May 2010 after Perdomo's attorney made a $5,000 settlement offer. The actual final settlement amount is not included in court records.
Perdomo had by then also settled, for payment to him of $3,800, a worker's compensation claim stemming from burns he received in October 2007 while employed as a $17-an-hour automotive technician, according to court records. The records do not reveal the exact cause of the second-degree burns to his face, arm and torso.
After his 2005 discharge, he enrolled in Seminole Community College, where he earned degrees in automotive technology and became certified as an Emergency Medical Technician and firefighter, he said in his deposition.
Perdomo was reported missing Sunday after driving from Florida to Maine last week.
His rental car was found abandoned in a Bangor Walmart parking lot. Bangor police said they reviewed surveillance video and it showed someone getting out of the car around 8:15 a.m. Friday and walking away from the store. It's not known, however, who the person is.
Perdomo, a firefighter and emergency medical technician at Seminole County Fire Department Station 41 in Sanford, last had contact with his wife, Tonya, via a text message that he sent her Thursday night.
Several of Perdomo's coworkers headed to Bangor to help search for him on Friday. Dave Williams and Troy Todak said they are going to Maine to pass out information and talk to local media there to raise awareness of the disappearance.
They said they plan to "lay the groundwork" for a future search, in which they will invite more Seminole County firefighters.
Their trip is being funded by the firefighters union and private donors. They said they don't know when they'll come back home but if they leave, they'll be replaced by others.
After marrying in April 2001, Perdomo and his wife, Tonya, lived in Orlando with their newborn daughter and attended Valencia Community College before he enlisted in the Marines on May 29, 2001 and moved the family to North Carolina, near Camp Lejeune.
During five months deployed to Iraq with the 2nd Light Armored unit, Marine Sgt. Jerry Perdomo engaged in three "big fire fights" that left him emotionally scarred, according to his sworn testimony in an auto negligence lawsuit.
In May 2005, he was discharged from his four-year commitment - including forays into Fallujah, Baghdad, Tikrit and Nasiriyah - with a "final discharge diagnosis" of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
"When I had (it) real bad, I kept having some flashbacks ... Just some of the stuff I seen. I kept reliving it almost," he testified in a deposition.
PTSD, along with injuries to his knee, back and neck, also caused him to take prescription painkillers, anti-inflammatories and other drugs, he said.
"When I had PTSD real bad, I was taking some sleeping pills," he said, adding he also took prescription anti-inflammatories for joint pain.
After the May 30, 2007 car accident, when his car was rear ended as it waited at a red light, he complained of insomnia, whiplash and lower back pain, for which he took painkillers.
The neck and back pain lingered at least until his August 2008 deposition, when he said, "I always try to do stretches for my neck. Usually pain killers help a little bit."
The lawsuit was settled in May 2010 after Perdomo's attorney made a $5,000 settlement offer. The actual final settlement amount is not included in court records.
Perdomo had by then also settled, for payment to him of $3,800, a worker's compensation claim stemming from burns he received in October 2007 while employed as a $17-an-hour automotive technician, according to court records. The records do not reveal the exact cause of the second-degree burns to his face, arm and torso.
After his 2005 discharge, he enrolled in Seminole Community College, where he earned degrees in automotive technology and became certified as an Emergency Medical Technician and firefighter, he said in his deposition.
Perdomo was reported missing Sunday after driving from Florida to Maine last week.
His rental car was found abandoned in a Bangor Walmart parking lot. Bangor police said they reviewed surveillance video and it showed someone getting out of the car around 8:15 a.m. Friday and walking away from the store. It's not known, however, who the person is.
Perdomo, a firefighter and emergency medical technician at Seminole County Fire Department Station 41 in Sanford, last had contact with his wife, Tonya, via a text message that he sent her Thursday night.
Several of Perdomo's coworkers headed to Bangor to help search for him on Friday. Dave Williams and Troy Todak said they are going to Maine to pass out information and talk to local media there to raise awareness of the disappearance.
They said they plan to "lay the groundwork" for a future search, in which they will invite more Seminole County firefighters.
Their trip is being funded by the firefighters union and private donors. They said they don't know when they'll come back home but if they leave, they'll be replaced by others.