22-Year Old Disappears in Germany
It started as a boys’ night out for two young Americans in Europe. Devon Hollahan took a break from teaching English in the Czech Republic capital of Prague to hop on a train to Frankfurt, Germany, with pal Josh Friedman to catch a concert by American alternative rock group Portugal the Man.
The evening was going well — Hollahan and Friedman downed a few beers, a shot each of Jagermeister, and wound up backstage with the band. Around 3 a.m., the pair left with the band members from the concert venue on the outskirts of Frankfurt toward the city center.
But unable to pinpoint the exact location of their hostel, Friedman turned to hail passersby for directions.
After Friedman was pointed in the right direction, he turned around, but Hollahan, 22, was gone. And in the 10 days since, not a trace of the outgoing, independent young man has been found.
The young man’s father, Jeff Hollahan, has been in Frankfurt since Sunday, working with local authorities to retrace the steps his son took in the early morning of Nov. 21 and organizing an ad hoc group of searchers who pass out fliers.
Speaking via satellite from Frankfurt Monday, the Scottsdale, Ariz., man gave a grim response when TODAY’s Matt Lauer asked him whether he suspects foul play in the case.
“At this point, I do,” Hollahan told Lauer. “It’s really the only logical explanation that I see, because left to his own devices, we would have [been given] some indication that he was around and well. We would have had phone calls.”
Devon Hollahan could take care of himself, but he wasn’t planning to be away from work so long.
“He had some cash with him, not enough to survive 10 days in Frankfurt or anywhere else in Europe,” his father said. “He had means on his credit card, but he’s not used that. I can only assume that there’s been foul play of some sort, although at this point, there’s certainly no proof to that effect.”
UPDATE TO STORY: Devon’s body was discovered in the Rhine River on December 15, 2009.