1 year ago
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The American pupil who went missing successful France past period had occupation making friends and whitethorn person voluntarily near the country helium was surviving in, a French authoritative said Monday.
Grenoble authoritative Eric Vaillant said that Ken DeLand Jr. was having a hard clip portion surviving successful France and expressed a tendency to permission early.
DeLand Jr. reportedly told respective radical that helium arrived successful France "insufficiently prepared" and had a hard clip making friends, Vaillant said. "He was not feeling well. He himself had mentioned that helium wanted to permission earlier by going to Marseille."
He was scheduled to permission France connected Dec. 15, according to Vaillant.
DeLand Jr.'s household launched a website to get accusation astir their missing lad retired to the public.
His household said they past heard from their lad connected Nov. 27 connected the fashionable WhatsApp messaging app aft helium near the location of his big and was headed connected a bid to Valence, France. According to his dad, the past clip his son's telephone pinged was connected Nov. 30.
DeLand Jr. was successful "constant communication" with his household portion abroad, said his begetter Kenneth DeLand, who spoke to "Good Morning America."
"He would scope retired to maine astir daily, sometimes each different day," DeLand Sr. said.
The 22-year-old was past seen wearing a reddish jacket, scarf, grey beanie, bluish pants, achromatic backpack and sneakers, his household said connected the website, alongside a representation from a surveillance camera of him walking wrong a sporting goods store connected Dec. 3.
A photograph of Ken DeLand provided by his family.
DeLand Family
According to French authorities, DeLand Jr. has officially been reported missing and an probe has been launched.
In a connection to ABC News, the FBI said it's "aware of the substance of a missing U.S. pupil studying overseas successful France" and is assisting its planetary partners connected the lawsuit done its bureau successful Paris.
DeLand Jr. was learning French overseas astatine the University of Grenoble Alpes done the survey overseas program, American Institute for Foreign Study (AIFS). In the U.S., helium was a elder astatine St. John Fisher University successful Rochester, New York, his parents said.
"AIFS joins others acrophobic for his information and we are moving with section instrumentality enforcement who person begun a search. We person been successful interaction with Kenneth's household and assemblage and we are hoping for his swift and harmless return," AIFS told ABC News.
According to DeLand Sr., a liaison from the programme had reached retired to the household saying helium didn't be class, which was unusual.
The French prosecutor's bureau said that DeLand Jr.'s classmates reported that helium disappeared.
"Kenny's a friendly, outgoing assemblage student, a young man," the elder DeLand said. "He loves to travel. So, this travel has been thing that he's truly looked guardant to and enjoyed."
English (US)