Location: Maine
Just to clarify, he’s an adult. We both still lived at home with our parents before he disappeared, so there isn’t really anything the police feel they can do. Since he left voluntarily and didn’t technically commit a crime we’ve basically been told to wait.
He’s always been a loner. Growing up he never really wanted much to do with other people. He only had 1 girlfriend his entire life and that was back in high school. Other than that he never had what I’d call real friends. There were people he’d occasionally talk to at work or school but he never hung out with anyone or built close relationships. He also never got along very well with our family. Most of the time he stayed in his room and only came out when he had to. Whenever he did talk to us conversations usually turned into arguments or ended after a few words. I don’t think it was social anxiety or that he was shy he genuinely seemed to dislike people in general. He always complained about society how fake everyone was and how the world was falling apart and how he just wanted to be left alone. It wasn’t like he hated one specific person he seemed to resent almost everything about life. After high school he worked 2 different jobs. He ended up getting fired from both of them because he had trouble following rules and didn’t get along with coworkers or management. He wasn’t lazy though. He worked hard when he wanted to and he saved almost every paycheck. He rarely spent money on entertainment or going out. The things he did spend money on were guns, camping equipment, hunting gear, and survival supplies. His bedroom closet was packed with all of it. He also owned multiple guns 2 shotguns, several pistols and a large amount of bullets. Everything was legally his. The day he disappeared all of it was gone. He didn’t leave a note. He didn’t tell anyone where he was going. He just packed everything that mattered to him and left. I’m about 99.9% convinced he intentionally disappeared into the wilderness. We live in Maine, and there are enormous stretches of forests, mountains, logging roads, and remote areas where someone with enough survival knowledge could avoid people for a very long time. If anyone I know could survive out there alone, it would probably be him. About a week after he left my parents finally contacted the police. They took the report, but because he’s an adult and there was no evidence of foul play or that he was forced to leave they basically said there wasn’t much they could do. They said since all of the guns and gear belonged to him there wasn’t anything illegal about him taking them. What worries me isn’t necessarily that he planned to hurt himself. I honestly don’t think that’s what this is. I think he simply decided he was done with civilization. He always talked about wanting to get away from people forever and now I think that’s exactly what he did. At the same time I can’t completely shake the feeling that he could be dangerous if someone happened to run into him. I don’t mean I think he’s wandering around looking to hurt random people or anything like that. That’s not what I’m saying. But if someone stumbled across wherever he’s staying, confronted him, or he felt threatened, I think things could go very badly. He was always extremely distrustful of other people.
Every day that passes without hearing anything makes it feel more real. Four weeks doesn’t sound like a long time, but when someone completely disappears without contacting anyone once it starts to feel permanent. Part of me hopes he’s okay and just living the life he always wanted. Another part of me wonders if we’ll never hear from him again. Right now I honestly don’t know which possibility is worse. Why will the police do nothing about this?? It’s illegal to do this right?