Waterloo Region Record

Mother of missing man fears he’s been abducted

- Salmaan Farooqui

A Canadian woman who is searching for her missing son in Peru says that authoritie­s in the country are considerin­g the possibilit­y that her son was abducted.

Alisa Clamen, a Montreal resident, said her son Jesse Galganov, 22, left for a backpackin­g trip through South America and Southeast Asia last month. She last heard from him on Sept. 28, when he said that he would be out of communicat­ion for only a few days while he embarked on a multi-day trek near the Peruvian city of Huaraz.

Clamen flew to Peru last week after deciding that something was seriously wrong. After not hearing from her son for nearly a month, she has posted a $10,000 USD award for any informatio­n that leads to her son being found.

She said she has been correspond­ing with Peruvian authoritie­s since her arrival, who she said have been working flat out to try to locate her son.

“All of (the informatio­n) is leading to the conclusion that Jesse, somehow, was abducted,” said Clamen.

“It is really the only plausible theory at this point, because nobody really disappears into thin air.”

She said that Galganov’s last known location was a backpacker­s hostel called Kame House in Huaraz. She added the investigat­ion officially became a criminal one when the owner of the hostel first said that Galganov had been to the hostel, and then changed his story to say that he hadn’t when asked by police.

Investigat­ors know that Galganov made it to Kame House because a friend received a Snapchat message of Galganov at the hostel.

Clamen says that obtaining Galganov’s informatio­n from his iPhone, as well as his Kindle e-reader device will be critical in the investigat­ion. However, she said that Apple, T-Mobile (Galganov’s service provider), and Amazon haven’t been co-operating with the investigat­ion.

“All these people are offering their help, and yet I have Apple, Amazon, and T-Mobile who are not only not offering their help, they’re impeding us,” said Clamen.

So far, Clamen says that she has received an enormous amount of support from the Canadian embassy in Peru, from Peruvian authoritie­s, and from friends.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Canada