On March 5, 2019 a post was made by a man named Hector along with a few pictures of a man who appears to be homeless. He noticed that this man had been sitting outside of a local clinic in Ajijic, Mexico, and was looking to see if anyone recognized him.
He mentions that he comes from a town between Russia and Ukraine.
The post that started it all.
Hector’s post was reposted by a Facebook page called “Missing & Homeless”. Their post basically read the same but had a little more information. I don’t have a screenshot of that post but I do have a word-for-word of what it originally said.
“We need the public’s help. Does Anyone Recognize this boy?
He is living outside homeless on the sidewalk of the Ajijic clinic in Mexico.
It is believed he comes from a country between Russia and Ukraine. But unsure if that information is accurate. He is having a hard time being understood.
We were told he suffers from mental health issues as well as addiction.He is located on a southern town of Guadalajara Jalisco, Mexico called Ajijic , he has been walking the streets for a while now not long ago he was seen standing by an Oxxo store in Chapala.
Please help us located his family “
There were many, many shares and even more comments on both of the posts. One lady said she recognized him as an abandoned kid who was adopted out of Russia and was a panhandler in Salt Lake City. Another person said he looked like Paval Gregoreivskiy, a teen who went missing from Russia in 2011. So many side by sides were commented under the posts.
That’s enough with the side by sides. The first picture is of the lady who thought she recognized him- she later says that he is not the boy she was thinking of. Second up is Pavel, the missing Russian teen. Next we have William Patient who is missing from Florida. I’m not even sure who is being compared in the next picture, but the last picture is of another missing boy from Russia named Седых Руслан.
If you ask me, none of those people look like the man found in Mexico. If you ask everyone else they will tell you it is DEFINITELY Pavel or another man I haven’t mentioned yet. I’ll get there. Be patient.
A nurse, Jenny Smith, was helping Hector with helping this young man that was found to be living on the sidewalks in Mexico. She also provided updates through out the comment section of both Hector’s post and the “Missing & Homeless” post.
She was very adamant that he is Russian.
A couple days later, Hector provided an update and attached a couple more pictures of the mystery guy. You can clearly tell that Hector has gotten this young man cleaned up, a change of clothes, and a check-up by a doctor.
In his update, Hector also mentions that a place to stay has been provided along with translators. He then thanks Presidente Moy Anaya for his support, and he is proud of the expat community. Also notice that at the beginning he says “Update on our young Russian friend”.
Comments from Hector on one of his posts does reveal his name. Hector first says his name is Zakanza, but then a couple days later he comments that he cannot give out his name because the mystery man has asked him not to.
Along with this update, people are still super curious of the identity of this mystery guy. *cue more side by sides* A few people come forward and are sure that this may be their friend, specifically a group from the Grateful Dead community.
If you know anything about the Grateful Dead, it’s that their logo is a lightening bolt. Go back and look at the picture of the mystery man and you might notice a tattoo on his left arm. Guess what it is of…
Here are some more comments from Jenny, which say she had a credible identification, that he has been identified and to leave the situation alone so this man can heal, and she also mentions that he is not a child and will identify himself when he is ready.
She mentions that the Grateful Dead community helped identify him and that he was traveling with them around 2017-2018 and ended up getting lost while on drugs.
Once Jenny started posting that this mystery man had been identified, the posts from Hector and the post on “Missing & Homeless” was also deleted. They gave him the name of Matveyev Maksym. I do not know if this is the person’s real name or if it was given to him to satisfy everyone and confirm that he was Russian like they said all along. It could have been to help protect his identity too.
On April 21, 2019, an article came out about a missing man in New Orleans.
Police are asking for help locating a 21-year-old man who was last seen in New Orleans about 10 months ago, according to an NOPD news release sent Sunday April 21.
According to police Michael James McCormack’s mother told NOPD her son was supposed to take a bus from New Orleans to Naples, Florida on June 29, 2018 but never arrived. McCormack’s mother told NOPD she made “several attempts” to contact her son, but was unable to reach him.
He has not been heard from since.
Fox 8
Some may think that this face looks familiar. Supposedly this is the mystery man from Mexico. Despite Hector and Jenny saying the young man found living on the streets was Russian and only spoke Russian, Spanish, and French, was an American man from New Orleans.
WHAT?!
Yesterday, July 8, Michael McCormack arrived home from Mexico. He is with his aunt who shares a picture of the two in a comment on a post about Michael’s disappearance. She also confirms in a message that he as in fact the mystery man from Mexico.
There were so many people on the threads who suggested that the man found in Mexico could have been Michael McCormack, whose nickname is Casper. I never once believed that it could possibly be him. I trusted that Hector and Jenny, who were supposed to be helping him, wouldn’t give wrong information or lead people to believe he was someone he wasn’t.
Hector, nor Jenny, has made a statement about any of this yet. They insisted he was Russian and that he was sent back home to Russia, yet here it has come out that this boy was American and just now made it home.
What a crazy story.
Great write up, Kiersten!