Alexander Gumm left North Berwick, Maine, for Kauai, Hawaii, in February 2018 telling family he was seeking enlightenment. In the months before he departed he grew distant, adopted strict spiritual and dietary practices, and took a vow of silence with his parents. On February 22, 2018, his parents drove him to a bus depot in Dover, New Hampshire; he took a bus to Boston and boarded a flight to Kauai.

He checked into the Kauai Beach House Hostel and stayed two days. Records show calls to two taxi companies on February 22 and 23 that report no pickup, and the last known activity from his phone was a call placed from the hostel on February 24. After that he vanished; his nearly $8,000 bank balance was not touched and he reportedly traveled with only cash. Friends who searched Kauai in late 2019 reported possible sightings and evidence he may have camped or bought camping gear, and some speculate he might have gone into the remote Kalalau Valley. Some have raised suicide as a possibility due to earlier erratic behavior, while his family hopes he is alive and will contact them.

Did anyone see Alexander on Kauai in February or spring 2018, or know of anyone who befriended a young man living off the grid there?