DES MOINES, Iowa — The search intensified Friday for a missing Des Moines teenager.
Family, friends and complete strangers took to the streets and woods to search for 18-year-old Abdi Sharif, who disappeared Jan. 17.
“It's not in his character to just vanish,” said Stephanie Kinney. “Nobody just vanishes off the earth.”
Kinney organized Friday’s search party. She’s a private investigator hired by the Sharif family to help find Abdi.
“We just all want to do our best to find out where Abdi is and that he's safe,” Kinney said.
Abdi’s friends said they’re still in shock that 35 days later, he’s still missing.
“It's unreal because that's not Abdi,” Abdi’s friend Louis Martin said. “Abdi's always been a good, wholesome person. It's just not him.”
“He's always caring,” Abdi’s friend Julius DeLecruz said. “He doesn't like people being sad.”
Many of the more than 100 people searching Friday didn't know Abdi.
"Being a father of seven, if one of my kids was missing, I would appreciate if everyone that could would help me try to find my child,” said Philip from Des Moines.
"Just felt like it was the right thing to do today,” said Sarah Mack. “I work in crisis and advocacy, so I just felt like I needed to do it."
The search party fanned out around the area Abdi’s phone last pinged off of a cell tower.
Some things people looked for include clothing that matched what Abdi was wearing the night he disappeared, his cell phone and security cameras in the area.
One Des Moines private investigator said detectives can help in missing person cases by supplementing police investigations.
"Police officers and detectives are limited. They work 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; they don’t work 24 hours a day,” said Detective Craig Brooks, a private investigator at Brooks Brothers Investigations.
“A private investigator pretty much does. Some of these clients, when they come in here — no we're not cheap — but we try and do a good job. We do the same work that a police officer does, we're just not wearing a uniform."
There's also a $5,000 reward for people with information about Abdi's disappearance.
Police are still investigating as well.
Officials stressed the importance of coming forward with any information that could help find Abdi. They said no detail is too small in cases like this.