Karel Szabo left home in the autumn of 1984 telling his family he planned to go to Barrie, Ontario, for a trucking job, but he actually travelled to the United States. The last confirmed contact came in April or May 1985, when his mother in Czechoslovakia received a postcard from Los Angeles mentioning stops in Las Vegas and San Francisco.

He was a Caucasian male about 74 inches tall and 174 pounds with brown curly hair and brown eyes. Distinguishing marks included a broken right jaw from 1982, a dime-sized surgical scar near his navel, and an appendectomy scar. The Waterloo Regional Police Service handled the investigation because his last known ties were to that Canadian region.

Anyone who knew Szabo, saw him in the western United States in spring 1985, or has information about his travels after that postcard is asked to come forward.