Vancouver police have found one of the five young men missing since last year after Daniel Holt was spotted outside the city on the weekend.
The 29-year-old was discovered living in a B.C. town under a different name. A member of the community recognized Holt from a TV news report and called local police.
Officials were able to contact the man and confirm it was Holt.
"He explained to the police officer that what he was doing was for personal reasons and he's asked for privacy," said Vancouver police Const. Lindsey Houghton.
Before his disappearance, Holt had worked with a software company in Victoria and was living on a boat moored in Mosquito Creek Marina, North Vancouver. When he had not been touch with friends or family, his mother reported him missing on Sept. 12, 2011.
On Friday, Vancouver police appealed for help in finding Holt, who was one of five unsolved missing persons cases out of 3,700 reported in 2011.
All of the open cases were young men aged between 19 and 29 and also included: Matthew Huszar, 25; Brian Mbaruk, 20; Mitchell Gallivan, 19; and Permadech Tatti, 21.
"Our fingers are crossed now that the public will see one of the other four missing and we can bring good news again to the other families," said Houghton.
Meanwhile, families of other missing men say disappearances like these are more common than many people realize.
Wendy Bosma's son Michael, 25, went missing in January 2006 from Kelowna. She said before his disappearance she had no idea how many people went missing in B.C. and now regularly updates a blog on missing persons files.
Bosma wrote on her blog that she was happy Vancouver police made a public appeal for help in the five unsolved Vancouver cases.
"They [police] are still insisting that there is no connection but at least they are taking notice of the missing men," Bosma wrote on her blog. "But there are more than five men missing in B.C."
Bosma provided a list of 20 other young men that have gone missing throughout B.C. since 2010. She also publishes information on missing people prior to 1999, attempted abductions and missing criminals.
Vancouver police shared this information on the remaining four missing persons cases Friday:
Mathew Huszar was last seen around midnight on Dec. 16, 2011 after leaving a Christmas party in Gastown. He planned to visit family in Victoria the following day but never arrived.
Huszar, 25, worked as a geologist for a mining company. He is white, 5-11 tall and 160 lbs.
Brian Mbaruk was last seen on a bus headed for Grouse Mountain on Nov. 18, 2011. He planned to go on a day hike in the North Shore mountains but was not found after an extensive two-day search.
Mbrauk is 20 years old, black, 6 - 2 tall and 170 lbs.
Mitchell Gallivan was last seen on Oct .19, 2011 riding his bike in southwest Vancouver at 2:30 p.m. He was known to leave without telling anyone for long periods of time to travel and stay in communes throughout B.C. but had always returned to Vancouver.
When he did not return, the 19-year-old was reported missing. He is white, 6-3 tall and 190 lbs.
Permadech Tatti was reported missing to Vancouver police by a family friend on March 20, 2011. He came to Canada from Thailand for school but had dropped out before he went missing. His work visa expires in Sept. 2012.
Tatti is a 21-year-old Thai man, 6-1 tall and 165 lbs. He was last seen by a neighbour on March 11, 2011 sitting in front of his home in southwest Vancouver with a large suitcase.
If anyone has information on these men, they are asked to call local police, Vancouver police at 604-717-2530 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
