Phone Calls and Crossed Fingers

I called the Embassy today and reported Ty missing. Due to the rules of the Privacy Act though, no information about his whereabouts may be revealed to me, nor any message passed to him via the Consulate. The most they can do is relay to him that he is being searched for and to urge him to contact us as soon as possible.

The worst part is that the lady on the phone more or less implied that the search is a passive process, rather than an active one. After providing my information, she neither asked where he was last seen or where he lives now other than the prefecture and city. She said that they will keep an eye out for any information that pops up with his name on it, which means arrests and hospitalizations, which require the notification of the Consulate. They didn't even ask me how long he had been missing, I volunteered it.

So, needless to say, I'm once again a little unimpressed by the willingness of the United States Government to help its citizens on an individual level, but I hope that now he will at least be located. If he's located, I can figure out if he's alive, and that's really all that matters.