Vincent S. Lamouris was 18 when he left Ghent, Belgium, on January 25, 2002. He told his mother he was going to school and work at Pizza Hut but instead took a train to Brussels, flew to New York City, and then crossed into Canada at Niagara Falls the same day he left Belgium. Travel records show he re-entered the United States on January 31; he was required by immigration rules to have a return ticket for February 9, a flight he never took.

On February 2, 2002, Vincent’s backpack was found in a trash can in Prospect Park in Niagara Falls, New York. Inside were his passport, the return ticket, a small amount of currency, a pocket knife, a CD player with 36 classical CDs, and a hardcover of The Catcher in the Rye, a book he reportedly identified with. Two years earlier he had survived a suicide attempt that left him seriously injured, and that history has shaped concern about his disappearance.

No body has ever been recovered and no definitive evidence explains what happened after he re-entered the U.S. Did Vincent start a new life in North America, or did something tragic happen near Niagara Falls? Anyone with information about his movements in late January 2002 is asked to come forward.