Kenny DeLand Jr Wiki – Kenny DeLand Jr Biography

A prosecutor in France has opened an investigation into the disappearance of an American college student, Kenny DeLand Jr., who his family says has not been heard from in more than two weeks.

Kenny DeLand Jr Age

The age ofKenny DeLand Jr is 22 years.

Kenny DeLand Jr found missing

Kenny DeLand Jr.’s fellow students reported him missing on November 29, prompting the investigation, according to a prosecutor’s statement released Monday and obtained by CNN. Deland is a senior at St. John Fisher University in Rochester, New York, and has been studying at the University of Grenoble Alpes, according to his family.

“According to reports, the young man told several people that he had arrived in France unprepared and that he had difficulty making friends,” Grenoble prosecutor Eric Vaillant said in the statement. The school is about 75 miles southeast of Lyon, in eastern France. DeLand’s parents say they haven’t heard from him since Nov. 27. “We just shook our heads,” his father, Ken DeLand, Sr., told CNN affiliate WHAM. “We don’t understand why he doesn’t communicate with us if he communicated daily or every other day like he did, it’s just not like Kenny.”

DeLand “appears to have left Grenoble voluntarily,” Vaillant said, adding that the student had been seen at a Decathlon store in the town of Montélimar, about 87 miles from Grenoble, on December 3. “He also mentioned that he wanted to go to Marseille before leaving for the United States,” Vaillant said. DeLand was expected to leave France on December 15, according to the prosecutor’s statement.

The family says a missing person report was filed and bank records show DeLand made one last purchase at a store on Dec. 3. There has been no record of his whereabouts since then, his family says.

The last time they spoke, “it was like any normal conversation we’ve ever had,” his mother, Carol Laws, told CNN’s Victor Blackwell on Monday afternoon. “I was looking forward to coming home for Christmas and starting to put the plans in place for that.”

His father, DeLand, Sr., said he didn’t know his son couldn’t make friends easily. He had been traveling with friends from the study abroad program, he said. His parents told CNN that it has been difficult to obtain information from authorities both in the US and abroad. “I feel like I’m not really getting any information, it’s been very difficult,” Laws said. “You know, really someone else has been caught in the middle to speak for us.”

Not only is the language barrier difficult, but DeLand’s father cited a French privacy law that has prevented the release of certain information. He has been communicating with the embassy authorities and the authorities in France, but says he has not had much luck. “There is no reciprocity of information. That privacy law prevents disclosure of information, you can give them information, but they can’t give you information,” DeLand Sr. told CNN. “I called the local police departments and the same goes for the French police departments that are local to the area where he was last seen. So it’s very limiting.”

The US State Department is “aware of reports of a missing US citizen in France,” a department spokesperson told CNN on Monday. They did not provide further details. “When a US citizen goes missing, we work closely with local authorities as they carry out their search efforts, and we share information with families where we can,” they said. To help find him, Deland’s family has launched a website where people can submit tips and information.

Tips have come in, DeLand Sr. told CNN on Monday, and he has passed them on to the FBI and the embassy, but he doesn’t know if any of them have withdrawn. “I hope that Interpol has gotten involved, and we have been interviewed by various media stations and we hope that we can, with their help and the help of others, we can get the word out.”

New York State Sen. Pam Helming said Deland Jr. was his intern and that his disappearance is “troubling.” During his internship from 2019 to 2020, he “brought a positive energy with him every day. I pray that he is found safe and returns home soon to be with his family,” Helming said in a statement.

St. John Fisher University “will continue to do everything possible to assist in the investigation to find Kenneth DeLand,” the school said in a statement. “University officials have been in close contact with the American Institute for Foreign Studies (AIFS), which is working with local law enforcement on the search, as well as Kenneth’s family to offer them support during this time. Our campus community is hopeful that Kenneth is safe and returns home.”

AIFS said Monday it is working with local officials and is in contact with the D family

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