A picture is worth a thousand words. That's definitely the case for parents of a 20-year-old man, who disappeared without a trace from his small upstate New York home on New Year's Day.
According to an article in the Toronto Star, in the days since he vanished Nicholas Simmons evaded police searches, so imagine his parents utter disbelief when they spotted a photograph of their son in USA Today.
Apparently an Associated Press photographer captured a candid shot of a homeless Simmons warming himself on a steam grate in Washington D.C.
“It could have been months before we had a lead on his whereabouts," wrote mom Michelle Simmons on the Facebook page set up to find her son. "My baby looks so lost and I will be spending the rest of my life making him well.”
By the time Michelle Simmons spied the photo in the newspaper, Nick had been missing for four days.
The AP photographer, Jacquelyn Martin, claims Simmons stood out among other men because he looked so young.
“It's really gratifying to see that a photograph can make a tangible difference in someone's life," said Martin. "That's a really amazing thing to have happened. I'm happy and touched that the photograph could help reunite this family.”
Though the circumstances surrounding his disappearance aren't clear, Simmons has now been reunited with his family. Police called the incident "pure dumb luck." We prefer "happy ending."
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