CNN
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The family of an American college student studying in France is asking for help finding him after they say he hasn’t been heard from in more than two weeks.
Kenny DeLand Jr. is a senior at St. John Fisher University in Rochester, New York, who has been studying at the University of Grenoble Alpes, according to his family.
The school is about 75 miles southeast of Lyon in eastern France.
DeLand’s parents say they have not heard from him since November 27. “We just shake our heads,” his father, Ken DeLand, Sr., told CNN affiliate WHAM. “We don’t understand why he is not reaching out to us if he was reaching out on a daily basis or every other day like he was it is just not characteristic of Kenny.”
To help find him, Deland’s family has launched a website where people can send tips and information. The family says a missing person’s report has been filed, and bank records show Kenny DeLand Jr. last made a purchase at a store on December 3. There has been no record of his whereabouts since, his family says.
“St. John Fisher University will continue to do all it can to assist in the investigation to find Kenneth DeLand,” the school said in a statement.
“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. Our campus community remains hopeful that Kenneth will be found safe and return home.”
CNN has reached out to the US State Department and French authorities for more information on the search.