Search underway for missing 20-year-old man near Blue Ridge Parkway

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — A search is underway along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Asheville for 20-year-old Gabriel Focaracci, who police said was reported missing on June 24.

Asheville police said Focaracci has not shown up to work since June 24. He was also supposed to go to a concert with friends on June 26 but never showed up.

Deputies confirmed his car had been found in northern McDowell County, near a trailhead not far from the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Rochelle Focaracci was handing out missing person flyers with photos of her son on them.

“He loved to be outdoors,” the mother told Channel 9. “He would try any of the trails in North Carolina. I just don’t even know. I don’t know what has happened to him”

Volunteers are searching trails he may have ventured onto.

“Very rocky terrain,” said Andrew Pressley, deputy director at McDowell Emergency Management. “A lot of ridges. A lot of steep terrain. A lot of valleys.”

Authorities said they were using a cadaver dog to search the surrounding area where it was found.

Police said there has been no sign of Gabe Focaracci so far.

“We just want Gabe back,” his grandmother, Linann Stephan, said. “We have been searching so hard. Every day, we go out and we do something that is looking forward to getting Gabe back.”

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Search of vacant home in Burke County leads to warrant in missing person case

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