How long does it take for an obituary to appear?

24hours is the correct answer

If they have to do an autopsy then it can take a while (week) otherwise if he died late on Sept 5th then it would take probably 2 days before the notice would be in the Obits. Other than that you can go to the web sites of Funeral homes in the area where he lived and look up the death notices and he should be on there. Did you try all of the newspapers in your area. Just go on line to save time. Some families are so shocked at the death that they don't publish it until later or have a quiet funeral with immediate family and then after have a memorial where anyone can speak about the decease.