It’s very good news that American college student Kenny DeLand, Jr. is alive and well and likely on his way home for Christmas. DeLand has been studying French at the University of Grenoble Alpes through the study abroad program American Institute for Foreign Study (AIFS). He is a senior at St. John Fisher University in Rochester, New York. This story has a happy ending, which often doesn’t happen with such stories. It’s especially good news with Christmas right around the corner.

He was reported missing three weeks ago. His parents turned to the media and because of media exposure, he called home today. He was last heard from on November 27. He is in Spain. His mother is in France preparing to visit with him and “hopefully bring him home for Christmas,” the family said in a statement.

DeLand had not been communicating with family and friends during his three-week disappearance. His parents said it was very unusual that there had been no calls from their son.

His family had previously said they last heard from their son on the popular WhatsApp messaging app after he left the home of his host and was headed on a train to Valence, France.

According to his dad, the last time his son’s phone had pinged was on Nov. 30. A surveillance camera captured him walking inside a sporting goods store on Dec. 3.

His parents did interviews with television news networks to draw attention to his case. They said their son had told people he was having a hard time living in France and wanted to leave early. He felt “insufficiently prepared” and had difficulty in making friends. Grenoble prosecutor Eric Vaillant said, “He was not feeling well. He himself had mentioned that he wanted to leave earlier by going to Marseille.” DeLand was scheduled to leave France on December 15.

The DeLand family set up a website to try to find Kenny. They posted on the website that Kenny called from Spain and he is safe.

We are so happy to announce that Kenny is safe; we received a call from Kenny in the early morning hours on December 16, 2022. Kenny is in Spain, and Carol (his mom) is in France, preparing to see Kenny and hopefully bring him home for Christmas.

We want to thank all the Media members for their diligence and swift attention in spreading the word about our Son. Without the media’s help, Kenny would not have seen himself in the news and reached out to us. We also want to thank St. John Fisher College, the American Institute for Foreign Study (AIFS), French Administrations, The Federal Bureau of Investigation, especially the Rochester and Buffalo branches, Congress Woman Claudia Tenney, and Senator Pamela Helming. We also want to extend our love and appreciation to our fantastic community for rallying together.

Without everyone’s help, we wouldn’t have our Son, hopefully, home for Christmas.

CNN reports that Kenny’s father was doing an interview with them via phone when he suddenly hung up. He later messaged CNN to say he’d just spoken with his son.

The DeLands thought that there was not sufficient urgency from authorities as the search was on for their son.

His fellow students reported him missing on November 29, prompting Vaillant to launch an investigation, the Grenoble prosecutor had said.

The woman who had hosted DeLand in France thought he may have left voluntarily, she told CNN before he was found – echoing a theory Vaillant put forward this week.

But the young man’s parents didn’t believe that was the case, and his father as recently as Wednesday decried what he called a response from authorities that was not sufficiently urgent.

Interpol on Thursday issued a Yellow Notice for DeLand, saying he went missing on November 27. Such notices are issued to help locate missing persons, often minors, or to help identify anyone who cannot identify themselves, according to Interpol.

There was an odd story published Wednesday about DeLand. The search was on for DeLand and yet the focus of the story was that he was a chapter president of TPUSA at his college.

The American college student who went missing in France while studying abroad is a member of Turning Point USA, a conservative organization on many college campuses.

“Pray for Ken,” reads a post on Instagram by TPUSA Students. “Help us find our chapter president Ken DeLand…Ken was last heard from by his family on November 27, 2022 when he left his host family’s residence and boarded a train for Valence, France.”

“The organization is very concerned about Ken DeLand’s wellbeing. The entire Turning Point USA family and community is praying for his safety and we are actively trying to spread the word in hopes that someone who might know where he is will see our messages and our posts and help Ken’s family locate him as soon as possible,” a spokesperson for TPUSA said.

Perhaps this was just meant as a human interest story on a missing college student. Maybe it was just to help get the word out about his disappearance and the search for him. It’s just seemed odd to me. What was the importance of his membership and role in this college campus group?

Anyway, the good news is that he’s alive and hopefully coming home soon. His parents can breath again. So many of these stories of missing college students, whether they are domestic or abroad, don’t end well. His family’s holiday is brighter now.