Missing...(Updated)

THIS IS THE cover of Thursday's Nice-Matin, the largest local daily paper in the area. The photo on the front page is of David Manassen, a former student at my school who has been missing for nearly two weeks. David was not in my class, but a lot of his friends were so he was often hanging out in my room during breaks or between classes. His sister, Anouk, was in my history class for two years and in now a first year student at McGill University in Monteal. Obviously, this is a very anxious time for David's family and friends and we are all hoping for the best.

David was last seen leaving a friend's house in Chateauneuf-de-Grasse, a small village right next to ours and about 20 minutes from Cannes, on Saturday, January 15. Neither he nor his car have been seen since.

If you are familiar with this area at all you know that you don't have to get very far from the sea before you are in rugged, forbidding terrain with lots of high mountains, dense forests, and deep gorges. The large amounts of snow in the high elevations can also make searches quite difficult. One bit of good luck is that we have had very good weather since the 15th with little precipitation or storms.

The increased media exposure is seen as a step in the right direction since it will get David's face and story out to a large group of people. Here's hoping for a happy ending to this story.

[Late update]: The family has just put up this website to help coordinate the search.