Fund established to help find Canadian man missing in Peru since late September

MONTREAL — A prominent Montreal family is donating $100,000 toward a fund in an effort to continue looking for a Canadian missing in Peru.

Jesse Galganov’s mother says he hasn’t been heard from since late September, when he told her he would be off the grid for a few days while on a multi-day trek near the Peruvian city of Huaraz.

Alisa Clamen says her 22-year-old son was in Peru as part of a backpacking trip through South America and Southeast Asia that was scheduled to end next May.

Clamen has been on the ground in Peru helping to co-ordinate the search, largely being done through private teams.

Well-known Montreal businessman Mitch Garber and his wife Anne-Marie Boucher announced Monday they are giving $100,000 to a fund set up through the Missing Children’s Network.

Clamen says Garber’s son is a close friend of Jesse.

Garber encouraged others to donate whatever they can.

“We have not, despite great effort, found Jesse yet, and we are continuing to deploy every resource available both private and governmental to find him,” Garber wrote Monday.

“This is sadly a lengthy, frustrating and expensive, but extremely important exercise. Your support is very much appreciated.”

Clamen credits a close-knit group of Jesse’s friends in Montreal for helping with the online sleuthing in the efforts to find him.

The Canadian Press