The father of a missing Montreal man who disappeared in Peru a year ago is offering half a million dollars to anyone with information leading to his son’s whereabouts.
Jesse Galganov, who was 22 at the time of his disappearance, was last heard from in late September 2017 when he texted his mother before embarking on a four-day hike along the Santa Cruz trail in Huarez, Peru as part of an eight-month backpacking trip.
Alisa Clamen, Jesse’s mother, flew to Peru last spring to search for her son. She also hired a private Israeli search and rescue company to aid in the effort. In May, she said she had already spent more than a million dollars – raised through charitable donations and a GoFundMe page – in the search for her son.
Both of Jesse’s parents have hiked the trail on separate occasions, but were unable to find him.
The missing man’s father, Todd Galganov, initially offered a $10,000 reward for information on his son and then increased it to $30,000 soon after.
On Friday, Galganov said he was raising the amount again to a whopping $500,000. He told CTV Montreal that he has heard of other people going missing in Peru and speculated that his son may have been kidnapped for forced labour purposes by a cartel.
“Maybe the people that did kidnap him, they don’t think that the money we offered before was enough. That they didn’t even react because he’s worth more doing what he’s doing,” Galganov explained. “I don’t know. I’m just a simple father from Montreal.”
Galganov said the family is still trying to press phone companies to track his son’s cell phone. He said a judge executed an order to see if the missing man’s phone was connected to any other carriers, but it hasn’t been carried out yet.
The family said they’re working with both Canadian and U.S. officials on the case because Jesse is a dual citizen.
With files from CTV Montreal
