Ken DeLand Jr., 22, had been missing for two weeks, with his disappearance sparking an international missing person search.
He was last spotted on December 3 on security footage while shopping in the town of Montélimar - about 87 miles from Grenoble - the city where he was studying.
His family across the pond had been expecting the worst until today when he was discovered alive while his father was taking part in an interview about his disappearance.
Nous venons d’apprendre que le jeune Kenneth DELAND avait pu échanger avec ses parents aujourd’hui. Il se trouverait en Espagne. https://t.co/Fap0j8yVKc
— Eric VAILLANT procureur de Grenoble (@egajvpr) December 16, 2022
On Friday (December 16), his father, Ken DeLand Sr., was providing an interview with CNN when he suddenly hung up the phone. He called the news outlet back later with "good news" for the broadcasters and revealed that his son was alive.
"He is alive, that's all I can say," the DeLand Sr. said, after previously revealing that he had not heard from his son since November 27.
During the call with CNN, DeLand Sr. did not elaborate on his conversation with his son and provided no details on his whereabouts for the past two weeks.
However, French Prosecutor Eric Vaillant confirmed on Twitter that DeLand Jr. is currently in Spain, and added that the student had only spoken with his parents.
An international search is underway for an American college student who has gone missing while studying abroad in France. Twenty-one-year-old Ken DeLand Jr. was last seen on December 3rd in Montelimar, France. @LESTRENTtv has the details. pic.twitter.com/XQaVRELKgn
— Inside Edition (@InsideEdition) December 13, 2022
The senior - who attends St. John Fisher University in Rochester, New York - went missing while studying abroad this semester at the University of Grenoble Alpes, which is 75 miles southeast of Lyon in eastern France.
Deland Jr. had planned to graduate in May next year with a major in psychology and pre-law. He was also expected back in the US this Saturday (December 17) following the end of his semester and the expiration of his visa.
His family began searching for him after learning from the school that he had gone missing at the end of last month. A woman who had acted as a host for DeLand Jr. while he was in the country told his family that he may have just left willingly.
French legal authorities expressed the same possibility in the early stages of the search, however, his parents disagreed with that idea and continued to raise awareness about his missing status after failing to hear from him.
"For him to not reach out, with no correspondence, this is very uncharacteristic of my son," DeLand Sr. told the broadcaster. "This is what creates all that worry that any parents could ever feel."
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