He was not simply scrolling through random missing persons cases.

He was looking for a specific kind of case — one where the missing person was approximately his physical type, where the family circumstances made contact manageable, and where the nature of the disappearance left enough ambiguity to make a cover story plausible.

Nicholas fit several of his criteria.

The case had been cold for three years — long enough that detailed physical memory of the missing person would be less reliable, that changes in appearance could be more plausibly attributed to time and experience, and that the family would be in exactly the state of prolonged desperate hope that made acceptance of a returning family member most likely.

Nicholas had also been a troubled kid — someone who had been in conflict with family members, who had run away before (or at least who had been suspected of running away), and whose disappearance therefore had plausible explanations that did not require foul play.