'I need to find my son': Montreal mother fears her son may have been kidnapped in Peru
It's been almost a month since Montreal mother Alisa Clamen heard from her son Jesse Galganov, 22.
He set off on an eight-month backpacking trip through South America and Southeast Asia last month but hasn't been heard from by friends or family since he last checked in Sept. 28 near the Peruvian city of Huaraz.
"Sometimes I feel like that, like I have to collapse, but I just can't do that, because I need to find my son.''
Fearing for his safety, Clamen flew to Peru a week ago to search for her son and work with local authorities on the ground.
She's posted a $10,000 US reward for any information that leads to her son being found.
Clamen told CBC's Homerun she fears her son might have been abducted.
"There's practically no clues as to where he is," she said. "When someone disappears, that possibility has to be explored."
Galganov was last seen at a hostel called Kame House in Huaraz, 400 kilometres north of the capital, Lima.
Clamen says that she's received a great deal of help from both the Canadian Embassy in Peru and local authorities who are treating the case as a criminal investigation.
Friends of Galganov, who had just been accepted to medical school, are helping by sharing his photo online and scouring social media for any trace of him.
Petitioning for location data
A petition is circulating on Change.org with more than 39,000 signatures as of Tuesday, asking that Apple, T-Mobile and Amazon release digital footprint data from Galganov's mobile devices.
Clamen is hoping that geo-tracking data could be used to narrow down his last known whereabouts.
"We were happy to learn that both Amazon and Apple have released information directly to the Peruvian police," said Clamen Tuesday.
"We are optimistic that this new information will help to lead us to Jesse."
She added that T-Mobile has not yet released any information to the Peruvian police.
The company told CBC that the situation is complicated due to the fact that Galganov was roaming on a different international network.
"We are doing everything we can to assist in the search for Jesse, including working with the Department of Homeland Security. We don't have location information on our partner networks when customers are roaming, but will certainly provide anything else we can to help," read T-Mobile's official statement.
Apple said in a statement: "As we do with emergency requests from law enforcement, we have immediately responded to legal requests for information from U.S., Canadian and Peruvian authorities in this case. We know time is of the essence, and have a dedicated team responding to any exigent request 24 hours-a-day around the world."
