Yuan Tian doesn’t know where else to turn for help.
His cousin, 17-year-old Feng Tian, has been missing since the evening of Oct. 17, 2022.
“He left home, I think he went out to hang out, and he just never come back,” he told Global News.
On Wednesday, investigators set up a command post at Square Ste-Élizabeth at the corner of St-Jacques and Delinelle streets, not far, police say, from where the teen was last spotted.
“The last time he was seen he was heading east on St-Jacques near Décarie (Boulevard),” said Const. Jeanne Drouin, Montreal police spokesperson.
According to police, the youth was wearing a black jacket, jeans, black and white shoes, stands about five-feet-11-inches tall (180 cm) and weighs 150 pounds (68 kg).
“We also we know that he doesn’t speak English or French,” Drouin pointed out.
Tian says the missing teen and his mother arrived in Montreal three months ago from China, that his cousin was taking French and English courses and he kept mostly to himself.
“He doesn’t have much friends here,” Tian noted.
The cousin said the teen left his identification at home but took his phone, but when they call the number, there’s no answer.
Members of the NDG community, where he lives, have rallied around the family, handing out flyers and doing what they can to help.
“Making sure that the family feels supported,” explained resident Tricia Bartley. “We held a candlelight vigil on Monday night for the family.”
She said the outpouring of support has been heartwarming and also helpful to the family who, according to her, doesn’t yet have a large social network.
“It’s always been a safe community, warm community and if this were my child I would want the community to do the same for me,” she pointed out.
Feng said his cousin’s mother is devastated.
“She’s just crying every day,” he said. “She feels like dying.”
The family has also hired a private investigator.
Police are hopeful but want anyone with information to contact them.