Mother of Canadian man missing in Peru since September says he may have been abducted

A Canadian woman who is searching for her missing son in Peru says that authorities in the country are considering the possibility that her son was abducted.

Alisa Clamen, a Montreal resident, said her son Jesse Galganov, 22, left for a backpacking trip through South America and Southeast Asia last month. She last heard from him on Sept. 28, when he said that he would be out of communication for only a few days while he embarked on a multi-day trek near the Peruvian city of Huaraz.

Clamen flew to Peru last week after deciding that something was seriously wrong. After not hearing from her son for nearly a month, she has posted a $10,000 USD award for any information that leads to her son being found.

She said she has been corresponding with Peruvian authorities since her arrival, who she said have been working flat out to try to locate her son.

“All of (the information) is leading to the conclusion that Jesse, somehow, was abducted,” said Clamen.

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“It is really the only plausible theory at this point, because nobody really disappears into thin air.”

She said that Galganov’s last known location was a backpackers hostel called Kame House in Huaraz. She added the investigation officially became a criminal one when the owner of the hostel first said that Galganov had been to the hostel, and then changed his story to say that he hadn’t when asked by police.

Investigators know that Galganov made it to Kame House because a friend received a Snapchat message of Galganov at the hostel.

Clamen says that obtaining Galganov’s information from his iPhone, as well as his Kindle e-reader device will be critical in the investigation. However, she said that Apple, T-Mobile (Galganov’s service provider), and Amazon haven’t been co-operating with the investigation.

“All these people are offering their help, and yet I have Apple, Amazon, and T-Mobile who are not only not offering their help, they’re impeding us,” said Clamen.

“I’m incredulous, I just cannot believe that these companies are not being co-operative, when the life a 22-year-old man is at stake.”

So far, Clamen says that she has received an enormous amount of support from the Canadian embassy in Peru, from Peruvian authorities, and from friends back home who are scouring their social media for any information that could be gleaned from communications with Galganov.

Clamen added that she is hoping the U.S. Embassy and FBI could get involved to pressure Apple, T-Mobile and Amazon into releasing data from Galganov’s devices.

“I can’t sit and break down and cry and just be a mother that is lost,” said Clamen, speaking from a hotel room in Huaraz as authorities updated her on the investigation.

“Sometimes I feel like that, like I have to collapse, but I just can’t do that, because I need to find my son.”

For that reason, she says there’s no point in regretting her son’s trip, because it won’t help with the task at hand. She said Galganov, who had just been accepted to medical school, could not have planned this trip more meticulously.

Clamen said she knew and researched every detail of the trip with him, right down to the weight of each item in his backpack.

“I can’t let regret consume me, because it’ll break me.”

Salmaan Farooqui, The Canadian Press