____________________________________________________________________
Gabriel Falcon
AC360° Writer
An international search is under way for a 29-year-old Auburn University veterinary student who vanished under what appears to be unusual circumstances in Thailand. The family of Michael Griffin Harrie is pleading for help in locating him. “We just don’t know what happened to him,” Paul Harrie told CNN about his missing son. “I now know the meaning of living a nightmare.”
In a media release, Auburn University said Harrie, a second-year student at the veterinary school, was attending a summer study abroad program in Morioka, Japan. He informed a professor he was going to take a one-week vacation with friends to Bangkok that would begin on July 7. “He said he would be back on the 14th,” his father explained. But Harrie never returned to his studies. And when he failed to meet up with his parents in Tokyo on July 16, they reported him missing.
The investigation into Harrie’s disappearance is being led by Bangkok police. The American Embassy in Thailand has also been notified, and Auburn University has dispatched two representatives to Japan. “The role there is to provide assistance to the family,” Auburn University Communication Director Michael Clardy told CNN.
The best clues to finding Harrie appear on video.
Harrie’s father, who hired a private detective agency to assist in the search, said surveillance tape from Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport on July 14th shows his son entering the airport but then exiting the terminal before checking in for his flight. Why would he suddenly turn around and leave remains a mystery.
Efforts to track him through automated bank transactions also add to the complexity.
His father said his son stopped withdrawing money out of ATM machines a day earlier, on July 13.
While his family calls Harrie an avid traveler, Paul Harrie said his son’s behavior is out of character. “The idea of picking up and not telling anyone is very unlike him. He likes to explore areas but always under some sort of controlled circumstances so we know where he is going. The concern is he didn’t tell anybody where he was going,” he said.
The worry was heightened on Tuesday because Harrie was not on his scheduled flight home to the U.S. where his veterinary school training was to resume in the fall. His family, desperate for answers, has a message they hope will reach their missing loved one. “If anybody sees him, please ask him to contact us,” Paul Harrie said. “We love him, and we are worked sick about him.”
Michael Harrie is from the San Francisco area. He has blue eyes and brown hair, wears eye-glasses and is 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 175 pounds. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Auburn University Department of Public Safety and Security at 334-844-8888.
For more crime coverage go to cnn.com/crime.
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All you peeps talking about chip implants are either being paid by feds, or out of your mind...Just be alert at all times, DONT MAKE MISTAKES when you go overseas...cant risk it!!!
This story hits very close to home for me. I also a vet student studying abroad this summer (in South America) and my heart breaks for this family. My school sends students to Thailand, and I was there 2 years ago. Thailand is an amazing country (one of my favorites). It has its dangers such as drug trafficking, but it's hard for me to imagine a fellow vet student getting invovled in such...vet school is very demanding and requires a very focused, determined individual usually, not the type to be involved in drug trafficking. I don't know what happened to this young man, but I pray he returns home safely very soon. Also, for those who say don't travel...that's a very ignorant, closed minded way to live your life. Furthermore, YOU are the exact reason I have to defend Americans to many people I meet abroad, because they feel we have a superiority complex as Americans. And as for the imbecile who made the chip implant comment, chip implants in dogs are for identification & not tracking. There are are no GPS capabilities to these chips. Also, please refrain from ever procreating.
Everything changes everyday.
I know Michael. I worked with him at SFVS and I am truly in shock. I hope this nightmare all comes to an end and he comes home soon.
Maybe he was planning to make a drug run and opted out. Yeah, I've been watching 'locked up abroad'....maybe he was, too.
Look people... If this dude is not dead, in a few years he will be on locked up abroad. He OBVIOUSLY agreed to smuggle drugs out of the country and either backed out or got caught. Either way, he is screwed! He was the only one seen on camera, no friends. Never told his parents but told his professor??? Who the hell tells a professor your going on vacation?? You don't. You just go.. He is either in jail or dead.. Law enforcement has not spoken to his friends because there are no friends! If there were, they would have contacted his family by now.
Even if he forgot his plane ticket, don't you go back to the hotel and get it and then return to the airport?? He never returned! Come on now people.
He was probably carrying drugs and changed his mind. It's a very common drug route and quite stupid to try considering the amount of sniffer dogs at Narita Airport.
What a nightmare for his family!!! I only hope he is found soon.
I agree with Thomas, stay away from trouble.
Isn't this where David Carradine died?
Folks, read his post again. I think "Omar the Chip Man" was being cruelly sarcastic, don't you? His references to Piotr Stanczak and Daniel Pearl, both beheaded by terrorists, were sardonic and seemed almost taunting. He is probably yucking it up reading all the responses to his post.
Again, I hope Michael is found ok and I pray for him and his family.
although the chip idea may not sit well with most people, shouldn't the energy people are putting toward bashing the idea be put toward well wishes and support for the Harrie family? I believe all members of his family would be deeply saddened if they read this blog and realized how many people were focusing on the chip idea, big brother, etc rather than the safety and protection of their son. To the Harrie family, I sincerely hope that Michael is returned to you as soon as possible and that he is safe, healthy, and happy. I will be praying for a safe return and for strength for Michael and your family. He seems to be a great man and I hope God is watching over him.
to the family, i would suggest contacting the National Center for Missing Adults 800.690.3463
thomas, that's the most ethnocentric and ignorant thing I've heard in a long time. Michael was doing what EVERY college student should do...go abroad.You can't consider yourself totally educated unless you experience other cultures. It's a rich, beautiful world out there and Michael was trying to get a better understanding.
Hopefully this is just some weird misunderstanding or mistake and he'll turn up, alive and well. If he got himself mixed up with the wrong people, then it's more of a toss-up as to what the outcome will be. But he's a grown guy and surely understood any risks he was taking.
I'll keep him and his family in my thoughts and prayers