Michael James Lee was 16 when he was last seen in the Eugene, Oregon area on October 26, 2009. Known as Mike, he had recently returned to Oregon after traveling the West Coast and was close with his mother, regularly calling and planning to attend a family memorial service for his grandmother. He never made the expected call and did not appear at the service.

Mike was a familiar presence at the Eugene bus station where he played guitar. At the time of his disappearance he was described as a white male about 5 feet 11 inches to 6 feet tall, 180 to 230 pounds, with blond or strawberry blond hair (sometimes dyed black), light blue eyes, just-above-shoulder hair, an olive skin tone, and size 14 shoes. The Lane County Sheriff’s Office opened an investigation that remains an active cold case and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has issued age-progressed images.

The prolonged, complete silence from someone who contacted family regularly is the case’s most troubling feature. If anyone saw Michael around Eugene in late October 2009 or afterward, please share what was observed with the Lane County Sheriff’s Office.