OCEANSIDE — For almost two years, a Dutch family has been in the dark about their son and brother, who vanished during a visit to Southern California.
Jeffrey de Vries, a citizen of the Netherlands, is believed to be living without shelter somewhere in Oceanside. Desperate for answers, his family is reaching out to the public, pleading for assistance to reunite them with Jeffrey.
Jeffrey’s father, Jan Willem de Vries, told The Coast News that his son developed an adventurous spirit as an adult and saved up money to travel abroad.
“Jeffrey told us that he wants to see the world,” de Vries told The Coast News.
But Jeffrey often miscalculated the costs and risks of international travel, according to his father. On multiple occasions, the family had to book him a return flight home after Jeffrey ran out of money.
In the past, Jeffrey has always been able to ask his family for help dealing with misfortunes in his travels. But after coming to Oceanside, Jeffrey sent a few emails and WhatsApp messages to his family before his communications abruptly ended.
“(His messages) suddenly stopped for no reason,” de Vries said. “We, his family, are afraid that something happened to him.”
De Vries fears someone may have taken advantage of his son, whom he described as kind and friendly, albeit naive.
“That makes him very vulnerable,” he said.
The family has notified Oceanside Police about Jeffrey’s disappearance. Officer Jose Perez from the department’s Homeless Outreach Team told de Vries that officers came across Jeffrey on Dec. 8, 2022, at a park near 1700 Broadway Street. However, as their interaction didn’t lead to a citation or arrest, the police have no further details on his location.
“Neither me nor the teams I work closely with have had contact with him,” Perez told de Vries via email, noting that they would keep an eye out for him. “Unfortunately, if he won’t accept our assistance, all we can do is advise him to attempt to contact you.”
De Vries called the police again last July and heard that police had spotted Jeffrey in May 2023 but had no additional information.
“Due to privacy rules, they did not want to share where and why they engaged him,” he said.
In February, The Coast News contacted Brother Benno’s — a nonprofit that provides meals, laundry, showers and other basic needs and services to homeless individuals — to see if Jeffrey had visited the soup kitchen or shelter.
Issac Rutherford, Brother Benno’s security supervisor, said he recognized the young man but hadn’t seen him in a couple of months. Rutherford searched for Jeffrey’s name in the soup kitchen’s visitor tracking database but found no records.
“I may have seen him getting breakfast, I cannot remember, but I do recognize his face and his tattoo,” Rutherford said via email.
Jeffrey, now 33, is approximately 5-foot-9 inches tall and likely has a bald head and red beard. He has a tattoo on the right side of his neck.
De Vries noted another possibility: his son is intentionally keeping a low profile from his family.
“We think Jeffrey probably has the idea he is a burden to us, but that is absolutely not the case,” he said. “We love him as all our other children the same.”
He fears Jeffrey could be isolating himself due to feeling guilt over the death of his young nephew years earlier.
In 2016, following a journey to Brazil, Jeffrey returned to live with his sister and her young son. Tragically, on the morning after Christmas, shortly after Jeffrey’s return, the one-year-old child failed to awaken. The infant succumbed to a viral fever in the hospital two days later.
According to his family, Jeffrey blamed himself for his nephew’s death, believing he somehow transported viruses to the U.S. from the Brazilian jungle. Despite his family’s reassurances, Jeffrey continues to struggle with guilt over his nephew’s death.
The de Vries family wants their son and brother to come home.
“We don’t want him to be alone,” de Vries said. “We love him, and he should not be ashamed of anything. We just want him to come home to be with his family – it is not complete without him and we will always be there for him, no matter what.”
