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Tag: missing persons

  • Misty Upham: Search For Missing Actress Continues

    The search for Misty Upham, the 32-year-old actress who went missing last week, is continuing. Police in the Seattle, Washington suburb of Auburn told The Seattle Times that they are “concerned” about Upham’s disappearance but that the incident is not being considered suspicious.

    Upham was reported missing on October 6. She was last seen on October 5 walking away from her sister’s apartment on the Muckleshoot Reservation near Auburn. According to The Seattle Times, Upham’s family had contacted police on October 4 to report that the actress was suicidal.

    Despite the circumstances of her disappearance, Upham’s family does not believe the actress has committed suicide or simply run away. Charles Upham, Misty’s father, has been posting updates on the search to Misty’s Facebook page. In a statement released on Sunday Charles Upham said he believes something has happened to his daughter and that she “left in a psychotic state of mind.” He reported that Misty took only a shoulder bag full of clothes when she left.

    “As her father I do not fear she committed suicide,” said Charles. “I feel that she has been hurt by accident or someone has put her in harms way.

    “Misty believes that suicide is a sin and in her darker moments she would tell me, ‘Dad, I would never take my own life.’”

    Charles went on to criticize police for not considering Misty’s disappearance suspicious. He revealed that Misty has long suffered from bipolar disorder and hasn’t been receiving effective treatment since the family moved to the Seattle area earlier this year.

    In an update posted today the Upham family stated that they are currently organizing volunteers for their search and that many volunteers from the Muckleshoot tribe have come forward to help out.

    Misty began her acting career just over one decade ago, appearing in several TV movies. More recently the actress performed small roles in films such as August: Osage County and Django Unchained.

  • Madeleine McCann Case Reviewed in New Book

    In May 2007 a three-year-old British girl named Madeleine McCann disappeared. She was vacationing with her family in Praia da Luz, Portugal at the time. Her parents had put Madeleine and her siblings to bed one evening and walked to a nearby tapas restaurant to dine with friends. Madeleine’s mother discovered that the girl was missing when she later went to check on the children.

    McCann’s disappearance sparked a manhunt throughout southern Portugal. The girl’s parents quickly went to the media for help, leading to the incident becoming one of the most reported-on missing person stories of the new century.

    Now, more than ten years on from McCann’s disappearance, a new book is raising more questions about what may have happened the night the girl went missing.

    According to a Sky News report, the book, titled Looking for Madeleine, is due out in bookstores next week. it was co-written by Anthony Summers, an author well-known for his takes on historical topics popular with conspiracy theorists. His previous works include Official and Confidential: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover, The Eleventh Day: The Full Story of 9/11 and Osama Bin Laden, and Not in Your Lifetime: The Defining Book on the J.F.K. Assassination.

    In Looking for Madeline Summers and co-author Robbyn Swan reveal that a door-to-door charity collector may have had something to do with McCann’s disappearance. Such a person was described by a British woman who was staying in an apartment near where the McCann family was vacationing. The woman told Summers and Swan that the man had come to her door begging donations. She later saw the man watching her apartment, then happened upon someone she believed to be the man in her apartment, in a room with her child.

    The woman stated that the man ran when he saw her, but that he was dressed suspiciously, She recalls that he was wearing a surgical mask and had clothing wrapped around his feet.

    What exactly this incident has to do with the McCann case isn’t entirely clear, other than it occurred just hours before the young girl disappeared. According to Sky, Scotland Yard interviewed the woman in the wake of McCann’s disappearance. Detectives still looking into the McCann case have stated that burglars or a sexual predator are the most current theories on the case.

  • Bodies of Missing Arkansas Man and Infant Son Found

    The bodies of an Arkansas man and his 10-month-old son were discovered in a remote area of the Ouachita Mountains on Tuesday, concluding a four-day search.

    Brian Floyd, 33, and his son Harper Floyd were last seen on Friday morning with Brooke Floyd, the child’s mother. Brooke Floyd was found hours later, walking alone down a rural road in the area, which is situated roughly 80 miles west of Little Rock. Yell County Sheriff Bill Gilkey commented that Floyd appeared to be “cut up and scarred as if she had been in a wooded area.”

    Gilkey added that Floyd “spoke of a separation Friday night.” She also listed her marital status as “single” on the police report. “Investigators are still trying to get to the bottom of what caused the separation,” Gilky said.

    Floyd was detained on the charge of endangering the welfare of a minor, as she was initially uncooperative regarding the search effort for her husband and child.

    It is still not clear if Brooke Floyd is considered to be a suspect or a victim. She was being held on $50,000 bond, but made bail.

    Floyd eventually revealed the location of the family truck, which lead investigators to the bodies. Harper’s body was found in the mountainous region at roughly 1:30 p.m. and and Brian’s body was found nearly one hour later. Both bodies were transported to the state crime lab for autopsies.

    Gilkey didn’t mention if the deceased were accident or homicide victims, and commented during a press conference at the site, “It’s not the outcome we certainly had hoped for and our prayers and thoughts go out to the families involved.”

    Here is a clip of an interview with Brooke Floyd’s family:

    Gilkey said that investigators were presently meeting with county prosecutors to go over the case.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Amy Sue Pagnac Case Reopened After 25 Years

    In 1989 Amy Sue Pagnac went missing. The 13 year-old girl’s stepfather, Marshall Midden, told police that Amy disappeared while he was using the restroom in an Osseo, Minnesota gas station. For 25 years the girl has remained missing, but Minnesota police are now reopening the case, hoping to find some clue as to what happened to Amy.

    According to a Star Tribune report, Maple Grove police are now searching the home of Midden and Amy’s mother, Susan Pagnac for clues to Amy’s whereabouts. The couple’s house is being turned upside down as police intricately search the premises for clues. The search is expected to take at least four days, continuing through Friday.

    Police have not stated what prompted the new search or what they are hoping to find. Maple Grove police have stated that it is not one piece of evidence that has led to the new search but “a process.” The home has been searched twice before by police, once shortly after Amy’s disappearance and once again in 2007.

    Rather than criticize police for the invasive search, Amy’s mother said that she welcomes the attention. Pagnac told the Star Tribune that the search gives her “more hope” that Amy will be found.

    “It’s inconvenient, but at the end goal if it brings Amy home it doesn’t matter,” said Pagnac. “The reality is, she has never received this much attention. There’s a heck of a lot of people who don’t know who she is.”

    Midden, on the other hand, stated that police searches have brought “frustration” over the years. Since Amy disappeared, Pagnac and Midden say they have been suspects in the disappearance. The couple have largely avoided their neighbors and have endured suspicion from their community.

    Midden and Pagnac believe that their daughter was kidnapped by organized crime, and possibly sold into sex slavery. Pagnac told the Star Tribune that she has no reason to believe that her daughter is dead, even after 25 years.

    Image via NDN

  • Amelia Earhart Situation For Flight 370

    International attention focusing on the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has led to collective concern that the most recent occurrence could be another unsolved global mystery, similar to the officially-unsolved case involving renowned pilot Amelia Earhart. Former U.S. aviation accident investigator Ric Gillespie, who studied the 1937 disappearance of Earhart, spoke about the public’s reaction to the recent unresolved tragedy.

    “When something like this happens that confounds us, we’re offended by it, and we’re scared by it. We had the illusion of control and it’s just been shown to us that oh, folks, you know what? A really big airliner can just vanish. And nobody wants to hear that,” Gillespie said.

    Though many are having difficulties grappling with the revelation that a plane can disappear from the technological radar in this day-and-age, the Journal of Transportation Security‘s editor-in-chief Andrew Thomas offered some realistic insight behind the limitations involving modern-day aviation advancements. “There are lots of reasons why they haven’t changed, but the major one is cost. The next-generation technology would cost $70 to $80 billion in the U.S.,” Thomas explained.

    Understanding the events that influenced the disappearance of Flight 370 represent only part of the public’s anxiety when discussing this most recent tragedy. Another part of the struggle is determining the societal recourse needed to lessen, if not prevent, future situations of a similar nature from occurring. According to Brian Havel, who is the director of DePaul University’s International Aviation Law Institute, “The international aviation legal system does not anticipate the complete disappearance of an aircraft. We just don’t have the tools for that at present.”

    The 1937 disappearance of female pioneer pilot Earhart shocked the international community and led to debates and discussions regarding potential underlying factors. Conspiracy theories have persisted since the late 1930’s just like the current onslaught of conspiracy theories concerning Flight 370. While it may be falsely comforting to hope that these events are relegated to the past, present-day aviation is not immune from disastrous mysteries.

    Image Via Wikimedia Commons

  • Missing Person Group: Craigslist Killer May Be Lying

    Craigslist Killer Miranda Barbour may not be entirely truthful in her shocking recent confession to local police, says Seeking Alaska’s Missing, a local missing persons organization.

    Barbour’s claims that she belongs to a satanic cult and has killed so many people from Alaska to Texas that she “stopped counting at 22” just don’t match with the numbers, says the organization.

    “Based on the research we have conducted, we are not putting much stock into what this woman has claimed. We remain skeptical at this time until further proof is given,” the group said in a statement to FoxNews. “Our focus at Seeking Alaska’s Missing is finding the missing and, unless they have not been reported by a family member or friend, the numbers simply do not match up.”

    According to WNEP, Barbour said of the confession, “I feel it is time to get all of this out. I don`t care if people believe me. I just want to get it out.” She said she had been sexually abused at 4 years old, and that she only killed “bad people”.

    Dr. Dammer, head of the criminal justice department at the University of Scranton, said of Barbour, “Often you have young women who are abused or maybe they were prostitutes or they were raped by husbands or family members, who turn the tables and do this kind of thing. That’s happened in more than a few occasions. That would be the case when you have younger woman.”

    19-year-old Barbour and her husband of three weeks, Elytte Barbour, 22, are both being held on charges of first-degree murder in the November brutal slaying of 42-year-old Troy LaFerrara in Sunbury, Pa. LaFerrara reportedly answered a Craigslist ad to have sex with Miranda for $100. Barbour said they killed him after he gave the wrong answer when she told him she was sixteen.

    He said he wished to go on with their illicit rendezvous even though she was a minor. Barbour told police that they would have let him live if he would have called off the deal when he found out her supposed age.

    Miranda stabbed LaFerrara as her new husband strangled him from the backseat where he had been waiting. Miranda Barbour could face the death penalty if convicted in the murder of Troy LaFerrara.

    In the shocking jailhouse interview with The Daily Item in Sunbury, Miranda Barbour said that she had been killing people since she was thirteen years old. She also indicated that she could pinpoint all of the victims’ bodies on a map

    Image via You Tube

  • Tracy Ocasio’s Remains Not Found In Ocoee

    Tracy Ocasio’s Remains Not Found In Ocoee

    This past Friday, the Orange County Police Department was made aware of skeletal remains found by a local road crew along the side of Hackney Prairie Road in the town of Ocoee, Florida. According to My News 13 in Florida, deputies on the scene confirmed that they were human bones, but a gender could not be instantly identified. When authorities identified the situation, the family of Tracy Ocasio was immediately notified.

    Tracy Ocasio disappeared in 2009, when she was last seen at the MetroBar in Orlando, FL. Ocasio had gone to the bar to watch the Orlando Magic basketball team in the NBA playoffs. Also at the bar where Ocasio attended was James Hataway, a person of interest, who is now behind bars for life due to the murder of a different person (Source: ClickOrlando).

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms3IlC7m0NE

    During the course of the Hackney Prairie Road investigation, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office stated that the Orange County Medical Examiner’s thorough investigation of the remains concluded that were not those of the missing Tracy Ocasio. With this in mind, investigators are still unsure if there is any connection to the remains and the case of Tracy Ocasio.

    Captain Angelo Nieves of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office stated the following in relation to the connection that these two cases may have.

    “We can’t do that at this point. That would be irresponsible to make that connection, but obviously there is that thought process going out out there. That’s why our team, our sergeant, our supervisors here from our homicide will be working closely with them to make any information available that they need should that come to pass.”

    At this time, the Orange County Medical Examiner’s office is currently working on establishing an identity for the remains found at Hackney Prairie Road.

    [Image source: My News 13]

  • Colorado Floods: Over 1200 Are Still Missing

    Colorado has been hit with some disastrous flooding that devastated several areas including Boulder. The Denver Post reported this morning that the historic floods have killed at least six people, but the truly terrifying figure is the state’s 1,253 missing persons who are unaccounted for, many of whom are presumed dead.

    FEMA deployed two Incident Management Assistance Teams with accompanying staff to assist Colorado emergency centers, and three federal search-and-rescue teams are reported to already searching for those missing with an additional two search teams expected to join them later today.

    The worst of the flooding started last Wednesday along the South Platte River and moved downstream to the northeastern part of Colorado. FEMA has reported 17,494 homes damaged by flooding with 1,502 houses destroyed and 11,700 evacuees from the disaster zone. The disaster relief organization also provided 22,000 meals and over 65,000 liters of drinking water.

    A White House statement released yesterday said President Obama has officially declared the area a disaster zone, and talked to Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper for updates on the situation. During the conversation, Obama reiterated his desire to provide whatever aid necessary to ameliorate the disaster.

    Meanwhile, LiveScience reported that the University of Colorado’s Natural Hazards Center had listed a Boulder flash flood as one of several “disasters waiting to happen” on a report in 2004, and the U.S. Geological Survey has mapped the ancient remains of flash floods that occurred thousands of years ago along the Colorado Front Range.

    After the 1976 Big Thompson Canyon flood that drowned 145 people, Colorado officials bought undeveloped land along the flood zones to prevent development, and the city’s bike paths also served as floodwater channels with breakaway fences that prevented debris from clogging a flood’s path.

    Matt Klesch, a hydrometeorologist for the University Corporation for Academic Research based in Boulder, said that “We knew this kind of rain was possible [and] Big Thompson Canyon was a wake-up moment. Prior to that, we weren’t really prepared.”

    Referring to the 2013 flooding, Klesch said that the relief effort was “pretty well prepared for it, but it doesn’t mean all the residents were well prepared for it… Part of emergency management preparations is knowing a certain percentage of people are going to make bad decisions.”

    The Denver Post collected a series of stories about the flood, both sad and heroic, that you can read here at the end of their article.

    [Image via this AP YouTube video of footage and images from the flooding]

  • Coweta Woman Found Injured, But Alive

    Coweta Woman Found Injured, But Alive

    A Georgia woman has been found alive after an exhaustive search over the weekend turned up no leads.

    78-year old Eleanor Alexander was found in a wooded area not far from her Coweta home, covered in bug bites and injured from where she’d walked into a barb-wire fence. Alexander suffers from dementia, a fact that was never far from the minds of those looking for her after she disappeared from her house sometime between Friday night and early Saturday morning.

    “There are a lot of ponds and lakes in the area, and we worried she had fallen or stumbled in to one of them,” Coweta County Sheriff’s Lt. Col James Yarbrough said. “During the middle of the night, we were concerned about animals getting to her.”

    Dozens of officers and volunteers helped in the search for Alexander, some with dogs who reportedly aided in finding her. She was immediately flown to Atlanta Medical Center, where officials say she’s doing well.

  • Winnipeg Mother Search Continues, 2 Kids Dead

    A Winnipeg mother has disappeared and her two young children are now dead after police responded to a call and found them severely injured on Wednesday.

    Authorities are urging 32-year old Lisa Gibson to contact them if she is alive and in the area, as they believe she may be. Police have released few details about the case as an investigation is still ongoing, but there have been reports that the infant and toddler were found in the bathtub. They were reportedly alive in the home but later died at the hospital.

    Gibson’s home is near the Assiniboine River, so authorities have been searching near the area for any sign of the young mom. However, they are stressing that she is not necessarily a suspect.

    “Ms. Gibson was the last person to our knowledge with the children so, obviously, once she’s located and spoken with, where the investigation goes from there remains to be seen,” Constable Eric Hofley said. “We don’t know the circumstances fully of what’s transpired here. Our concern right now is for the safety and well-being of Ms. Gibson.”

    Few details have been released, but authorities say Gibson is a pharmacist who has been on maternity leave. Her husband has not made a public statement yet, but the family has been notified of the tragic events. Anyone with information regarding Gibson’s whereabouts are urged to contact Winnipeg police.

    Image: Winnipeg Police

  • Missing Girl Found Under Family Bed

    Missing Girl Found Under Family Bed

    A California girl that went missing Friday evening has been found – hiding under a bed.

    According to a Bay Area NBC report, Amieya Renee Stewart was reported missing at around 5 pm on Friday night. The girl went missing during a family gathering at the girl’s grandmother’s house in Richmond. Police and family members searched for Stewart for hours before finding her at around midnight.

    The girl was reportedly found hiding under a bed in the house where the family gathering had taken place. Police have stated that she was surrounded by objects that had been stored under the bed, and could not be seen. Even police dogs brought in on the search had not located the girl.

    After finding the girl, Amieya’s mother, while hugging her daughter and crying tears of relief, apologized for any worry the incident may have caused.

    View more videos at: http://nbcbayarea.com.

  • Missing Family Found in Florida’s Everglades

    Covering thousands of square miles in Southern Florida with wetland sawgrass and trees, the Everglades are not a particularly welcoming environment to become lost in. One Ohio family found this out the hard way this week when they became lost while airboating.

    According to a report from CBS Miami, Scott Schreck and his family took a camouflaged airboat through the Everglades this week and went missing. The Schrecks, who are from Seville, Ohio, took a wrong turn on their journey and were unable to find their way back. The family of five ended up spending the night in the Everglades, with rain pouring down on them.

    The CBS report states the family were found by authorities who had mobilized a search for them that included airboats, airplanes, and helicopters. The Schrecks were located by helicopter after rescue workers heard them blowing an air horn.

    Despite their night in the wilderness, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Officer Jorge Pino told CBS that the family is “in good condition.”

  • Whitney Heichel Murder Suspect Arrested, Attended Victim’s Church

    Gresham, Oregon police announced this weekend that the body of 21-year-old Whitney Heichel was found on Larch Mountain. Heichel’s vehicle and some of her belongings had already been found in a local Wal-Mart parking lot and on trails leading up Larch Mountain. Those clues ended up leading police to the woman’s body.

    Though no details regarding the Starbucks barista’s death have been revealed, police have arrested a suspect. According to a Northwest Cable News (NWCN) report, police have arrested 24-year-old Jonathan Holt on charges of aggravated murder. Gresham police stated that Holt was an acquaintance of Heichel and her husband, and lived in the same apartment complex as the couple. Holt also, according to NWCN, had attended services at the Jehovah’s Witness church the victim attended.

    No motive for the murder has yet been revealed.

    Heichel’s and her husband’s family released a statement this weekend, thanking their community, law enforcement officials, and those who assisted in the search for Whitney. From the statement:

    We are profoundly devastated by the loss of Whitney Heichel. She was a loved and valued member of our faith. No words can express the pain and agony her family and friends are undergoing as we cope with the bewildering loss of Whitney. We will continue to support and help one another in this time of grief. Whitney’s family, friends, and members of our faith draw strength from our God, and his words of comfort found in the bible. The outpouring of support from members of our faith has been such an aid in helping us to deal with the pain and loss of such a wonderful person. For us, this is not a surprise, because this is “what we do” as an organization.

    Heichel had left for work last Tuesday, October 16, shortly before 7 am but never made it to work. When Heichel’s husband received a call from the Starbucks about her absence, he called 911 to report her missing. The police mobilized detectives and search teams last week, finding that Heichel’s debit card had been used at several ATMs on Tuesday morning, and that a witness saw a man driving Heichel’s SUV with her in the passenger seat.

    (Photo courtesy findwhitneyheichel.com)

  • Todd Tweedy, CEO Of Audience Machine, Missing After Suicidal Facebook Post [updated]

    Todd Tweedy, CEO Of Audience Machine, Missing After Suicidal Facebook Post [updated]

    Update: Tweedy has reportedly been found alive.

    Todd Tweedy, CEO of Audience Machine and author of an upcoming Wiley book Facebook Marketing Secrets is missing. The last known communication from him is a status update on Facebook on Tuesday, which said:

    One illness I’ve never been able to defeat is my own depression. I have to say goodbye now. I wish each of you a wonderful New Year!

    His bio at Audience Machine says:

    As CEO of Audience Machine, Todd Tweedy is responsible delivering technology-enabled community marketing and search engine marketing services to achieve cost-effective online customer acquisition and revenue goals.

    Mr. Tweedy’s client experience includes Sylvan Learning, Rolex, AOL, LikeMe, MTV, Microsoft, Metagenics, Netscape, MTV Networks, Quest Communications, Discovery Channel, FedEx, US West, US Airways, Volkswagen, Audi and Scholastic among many others.

    Mr. Tweedy has authored numerous articles on ecommerce and email as well as the word of mouth industry study Perceptions, Practices & Ethics in Word-of-Mouth Marketing that has been downloaded over 150,000 times since being published in May of 2006. Mr. Tweedy also authored The Neighboring Marketing Modelpublished by Internet.com in 2002 on how to leverage public instant messaging networks to support acquisition marketing.

    Todd is a big-picture technology-driven marketing geek with documented ability to drive strong acquisition growth and online sales. Vast e-commerce experience from airline reservation systems to book sales and from affiliate marketing to viral and social networking over 16 years with B2C & B2B leadership for startups, ad agencies as well as Fortune 500 firms.

    He lives in St. Paul Minnesota with his wife and three children, according to that bio. A CBS Minnesota report (via Marketing Land) says the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is involved in the search Tweedy. It says:

    The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension described Tweedy as 6 feet, 3 inches tall with brown hair and brown eyes. The BCA said Tweedy may be driving a red Volkswagen Passat with the license place 545 BLM.

    Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to contact St. Paul Police at 651-266-5612.

    Many have chimed into comment on his Faceboo posts, showing their support and offering help – including people who claim not to know him personally.

    On Twitter, the hashtag #FindTodd is being used to spread awareness and to help locate him.

    @StephenCaggiano
    Stephen J. Caggiano    ALERT! Please help find Todd Tweedy. Missing since 1/3 Drives Red Passat, MN 545-BLM http://t.co/UN1UCdmt #findtodd to help cc/ @ty_sullivan 5 minutes ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

  • UK Police Tap Facebook In Search For Missing Teen

    Police in the UK are hoping that social media can help put a spark in a missing persons case that appears to have gone cold. Cambridgeshire officials have turned to Facebook in a attempt to draw out information regarding the case of a 17-year-old teen who has not been seen in over three months.

    Alisa Dmitrijeva was last seen around midnight on August 31st, and was eventually declared a missing person on September 6th. Police say that they are using Facebook to aid in the search because she was such a big social media user herself.

    A photo of the 5’6″, brown-haired girl is now turning up in Facebook ads, targeted to people living in certain surrounding areas (Wisbech, Norfolk and Lincolnshire). The ad states that “Police are offering £5000 for information that leads to tracing” the missing girl. It ends by asking users “Do you know where she is?”

    The “ad,” which is being circulated in English, Latvian and Lithuanian, leads those who click to a landing page on the Cambridgeshire Police site that details the latest news surrounding Dmitrijeva and information on the £5000 reward.

    The rationale for the advert is simple: Facebook provides a way to get the word out to folks that might have missed the story in other outlets:

    We know Alisa used social media so this advert will target people who may have information about her whereabouts. By translating the advert we hope to reach members of the community who know Alisa but may not have seen the appeals in traditional media.

    @CambsCops
    Cambs police    £5000 reward offered on Facebook in search for missing #wisbech girl http://t.co/GZEzvYyP 4 hours ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    There have been several unconfirmed sightings of the missing girl, but she has made no contact with friends or family in over 90 days.

    Do you think that a Facebook advertisement is a good way to enlist the help of the public in a case like this? Do you think that police departments should use all types of social media to both gain information and disseminate information? Let us know in the comments.

  • Missing Growing Pains Actor Andrew Koenig’s Body Found

    Update: Tragically, Koenig’s body was found in Stanley Park in Vancouver. His father Walter Koenig reportedly said in a press conference, "Our son took his own life. He was obviously in a lot of pain."

    More here.

    Original Article: Andrew Koenig, an actor best known for portraying Kirk Cameron’s best friend "Boner" on the 80s sitcom Growing Pains has gone missing, and his family is using the web to try and find him. The family’s efforts begin at Andrew’s father’s website at WalterKoneigSite.com, which details Andrew’s last known whereabouts and the efforts the family is taking to try and locate him.

    Here is what he looked like on "Growing Pains":

    Koenig as Boner

    Here is a more current photo provided on the site:

    Andrew Koenig Missing

    "Andrew has been an activist his entire life and most recently has been working on behalf of the people of Burma, and was arrested during the 2008 Rose Bowl parade for protesting American involvement in China’s Olympics," it says on the site. "Andrew was suffering from depression at the time of his disappearance. The last time the Koenigs heard from Andrew by phone was on February 9. His cell phone is turned off and the last time his phone received a text was on February 16 in Vancouver."

    It goes on to explain that on February 16, Walter got a letter from his son, which left him "concerned," due to its "despondent tone." The site says it’s not believed that any specific incident prompted the disappearance, adding that drugs were not an issue.

    Contact information for the Vancouver detective on the case is provided at the site.

    Andrew appears to have a Facebook profile with over 500 friends, though it’s hard to say with certainty that it’s legitimate (update: a reader has commented that she is a friend of his on Facebook and that it is his profile). A Twitter profile registered to an Andrew Koenig, sporting the same current photograph provided by Andrew’s father’s site can be found at twitter.com/JeSuisLeSinge. Again, we can’t be certain of the legitimacy, but it looks convincing as it displays tweets regarding activism-related topics. It has not been updated since January 24.