The disappearance of Kenny DeLand reveals that the French prosecutor doesn’t know his son, and how he has not spoken to him
Just days before he was supposed to come home for Christmas, an American college student studying in France is still missing as his father challenged the local prosecutor’s claims about his son.
According to his family, Kenny DeLand had been studying at the University of Grenoble Alpes and was a senior at St John Fisher University. His parents say they have not heard from him since November 27. The student was reported missing by his peers on November 29 and an investigation was launched.
The statement was obtained by CNN and stated that an investigation was started after other students reported him missing.
“The young man reportedly told several people that he had arrived in France underprepared and was having difficulty making friends,” Grenoble prosecutor Eric Vaillant said in the statement.
“I just challenge that French prosecutor – he doesn’t know our son,” Kenneth DeLand told CNN on Tuesday. He said the prosecutor was “making statements based on a person he does not know.”
“For him to not reach out, with no correspondence, this is very uncharacteristic of my son,” DeLand Sr. told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Wednesday. “This is what creates all the worry that any parent could ever feel.”
The privacy act of France prevented the release of some information, DeLand’s father said. He said he’s reached out to authorities at the embassy and authorities in France, but hasn’t had much luck.
There is no exchange of information. That privacy act prevents disclosure of information. You can give them information but they cannot give you information,” Kenneth DeLand told CNN.
The US State Department is working closely with families in the case of a missing US citizen in France, and a woman in the country where he was last seen
“I’ve called the local police departments, and the same thing is in effect in the French police departments that are local to that area in which he was last seen. It is very limiting.
The US State Department is “aware of reports of a US citizen missing in France,” a department spokesperson told CNN on Monday. They didn’t say anything more about it.
“When a US citizen is missing, we work closely with local authorities as they carry out their search efforts, and we share information with families however we can,” they said.
“University officials have stayed in close contact with the American Institute for Foreign Study (AIFS) who is working with local law enforcement on the search, as well as Kenneth’s family to offer support to them during this time. The school said they were still hopeful that Kenneth would return to his home.
The father of the student told CNN he was hoping for some sort of intervention from the international police organization. We are hoping that we can get the word out with your assistance and that of others.
The woman who hosted DeLand thought he may have left voluntarily, she told CNN before he was found.
But the young man’s parents don’t believe that’s the case and on Wednesday, the student’s father said he felt there was not an urgent enough response from authorities.
A CNN investigation of the December 3 disappearance of a 19-year-old student from France: “The wind has gone out of the sail”
She told CNN that she tried to find out where DeLand was but he did not reply. Finding out about the December 3 footage was reassuring, she said, because she felt it confirmed her suspicions he may have left and cut off communications voluntarily.
On Wednesday night, DeLand Sr. said he felt there wasn’t enough urgency in the way authorities were responding to his son’s case, saying “it just feels like the wind has gone out of the sail as far as what’s being done to find my son.”
An American college student who was reported missing more than two weeks ago in France has told relatives he is safe in Spain, his family said Friday, seemingly resolving at least part of a mystery that sparked a multinational search.
The statement states that Kenny is safe. Kenny is in Spain, and Carol is in France waiting to see him and bring him home for Christmas.
Earlier Friday, his father, Ken DeLand Sr., was in the middle of a call with CNN when he suddenly hung up – and then later messaged CNN to report he’d just spoken with his son. French prosecutor Eric Vaillant also told CNN DeLand Jr. spoke to his family Friday from Spain.
A Yellow Notice was issued by the international police agency on Thursday about DeLand. Such notices are issued to help locate missing persons, often minors, or to help identify anyone who cannot identify themselves, according to Interpol.
And Deland had mentioned he wanted to go to Marseille, a city along the Mediterranean some 190 miles south of Grenoble, before returning to the US, Vaillant said.
The DeLand Host Mother: When a Student Can’t Fit in Because of His Small Structural Anomaly
The DeLand host mother told CNN this week that the student seemed to have the most trouble fitting in because of his small stature.