Father of missing college student says his son, DeLand Jr, is alive

According to his father Ken DeLand Sr., the American student Kenny DeLand Jr. who was reported missing in Grenoble, France, more than two weeks ago is still alive.

According to French Prosecutor Eric Vaillant, DeLand Jr. is in Spain. He only added that the minor spoke with his parents on Friday.

The father of DeLand Jr. abruptly ended a call he was having with CNN. Later, he sent a message to CNN with "wonderful news" to share and claimed to have just spoken with his son.

"He is alive -- that's all I can say," says the father.

Deland Sr. did not elaborate on what his son told him and did not explain where his son has been for the past two weeks.

According to his family, DeLand Jr. was a senior at St. John Fisher University in Rochester, New York, and had been attending the University of Grenoble Alpes. His parents recently claimed that since November 27 they had not heard from him.

On November 29, his classmates reported him missing, which prompted Vaillant to open an investigation, according to the Grenoble prosecutor.

Before he was discovered, the woman who had hosted DeLand in France told CNN that she believed he might have fled on purpose, which is consistent with the hypothesis Vaillant proposed this week.

The boy's parents, however, didn't think that was the case, and only last Wednesday, his father criticized what he called a slow response from the authorities.

DeLand received a Yellow Notice from Interpol on Thursday after being missing on November 27. According to Interpol, these notifications are sent out to assist in finding missing people, who are frequently children, or in identifying anyone unable to do so on their own.

Before he was discovered, DeLand's father stated that he was supposed to leave for the US on Saturday and added that despite the fact that the student enjoyed trekking, he would always stay in touch.

"For him to not reach out, with no correspondence, this is very uncharacteristic of my son," DeLand Sr. told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Wednesday. "This is what creates all the worry that any parent could ever feel."

"As time goes by, it makes you worry even more."

When Vaillant announced Monday he was investigating DeLand Jr.'s disappearance, he said the student seemed "to have left Grenoble voluntarily."

"The young man reportedly told several people that he had arrived in France underprepared and was having difficulty making friends," Vaillant said Monday.

According to Vaillant, the student was last seen on December 3 in a supermarket in Montélimar, a town about 90 miles southwest of Grenoble.

Deland also stated that he intended to visit Marseille, a Mediterranean city located 190 miles south of Grenoble, before departing for the United States, according to Vaillant.

He seemed to have the greatest problems integrating among the pupils DeLand's host mother had accepted, the woman said to CNN this week on the condition of anonymity out of respect for her privacy.

DeLand's host mother bombarded him with texts after not hearing from him to try and find out where he was, but she said that he did not respond. She referred to the fact that he had been spotted on December 3 as comforting since she believed it supported her thoughts that he might have left and cut off connections freely.

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