Tej Chitnis missed his father's 60th birthday.
The then 21-year-old told his parents not to leave for the party without him.
But his father, Jayant Chitnis, says he never showed up.
"And the fact that he didn't turn up really raised the hackles, because it was unheard of. And it was a big celebratory dinner. My older son was going to go away to Africa to do some volunteer work for three months. So it was kind of a combined celebration, a going-away get together for him and my 60th birthday. When he didn't turn up that evening, it really hackled us, so we just left, came back and started searching for him."
And so began the family's desperate search for clues.
On the day he went missing, his phone pinged near Healesville, north-east of Melbourne, where his car was also last seen.
But his parents say there has been no trace since.
"Nightmare. It's a big hole, keeps getting bigger. It's a constant nightmare. You try to numb it, try to get to work, try to keep working, but it's not easy. It's the not knowing that's the nightmare."
Shortly after the disappearance of their son, his parents discovered he had not been attending university for about a year.
His mother, Reva Chitnis, says that provided the family with false hope.
"Probably came as a relief to us. Even though we're Indian parents, it came as a relief to say that, 'Okay, that's the reason he might have run away' sort of thing when we found out."
As the annual Missing Persons Awareness Week begins, friends and supporters joined the Chitnis couple in a charity run to raise money for the Missing Persons Advocacy Network.
Each year, about 38,000 Australians are reported missing, two-thirds of them under age 18.
Most are found between 48 hours and a week later.
Near Melbourne's Queen Victoria Market, a mural of Tej Chitnis serves as a reminder of the more than 2,000 long-term missing -- those not seen for three months or longer.
Australian Federal Police missing-persons national coordinator Marina Simoncini says authorities are seeking public help to find those who have disappeared.
"We have seen cases of long-term missing persons in each state and territory, Victoria and New South Wales, of late, where people that have been missing for more than 30 years have been found."
Tej Chitnis missed his father's 60th and 61st birthdays.
But his parents say they are hoping he will return home for family celebrations to come.
"We love him, and it's okay to be away. Just let us know that you're okay. If he's not ready to come back, it's okay. He can just tell us, 'I'm alright, I'll get back to you whenever,' it's fine with us. We want him to be okay, wherever he is. Just be safe."
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