Eighteen-year-old Ethan Alexander Boyt was last seen in Phenix City, Alabama, on June 24, 2022. The Phenix City Police Department said they were seeking him in connection with an incident that day involving felony counts for allegedly shooting into an occupied dwelling and an unoccupied vehicle on Dolphin Drive, and cautioned the public that it was unknown if he was armed.

Family and friends say a different picture: they describe Ethan as emotionally distressed and under the influence of an unknown substance on the day he vanished, and say he had threatened suicide. They report police were on the scene after a neighbor’s firearm was discharged and struck a vehicle and a residence, but that officers did not take Ethan into custody. His phone and wallet were left behind, prompting growing alarm from relatives who normally spoke with him every few days.

Volunteers have searched nearby areas, including scuba teams in the Chattahoochee River, after rumors and the later discovery of unidentified human remains in the river; officials list his case as an active missing person investigation. If anyone has information about Ethan’s movements on June 24, 2022, or saw him in the Phenix City area, please come forward.