An Auburn University student whose frantic parents thought he'd vanished without a trace on a study abroad program in Asia was actually safe and sound without a clue that there was an international search for him.
Michael Griffin Harrie's father told university officials that his 29-year-old son wasn't aware he was considered "missing" and was apparently traveling without checking his e-mail, an Auburn spokesman told FOXNews.com Tuesday.
He made contact with his family July 31.
The second-year veterinary medicine student who was studying for a month at Iwate University in Morioka, Japan, was last seen July 14 in Thailand while on a sightseeing trip.
He started the trek to Bangkok on July 7 and was supposed to meet his parents in Tokyo on July 16 for a family vacation.
But the California native never arrived, touching off an international search. His father, Paul Harrie, made the media rounds in the hopes that his son would be located.
Paul Harrie previously told FOX News he couldn't imagine where his typically reliable son could have been or why the family heard nothing from him in weeks.
"We're sort of worried sick about him," Paul Harrie said on FOX. "He's very responsible. He always communicates with us. We just don't know."
Security cameras at the airport in Bangkok showed Michael Harrie heading alone toward the airport's exit.
Authorities never suspected foul play and treated it as a missing person case.
FOXNews.com's Michelle Maskaly contributed to this report.
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