Frenchman missing in New York found after 6 days of concern

It had been 6 days since his family had heard from him. Arthur Astié, a 22-year-old Orleans man who went missing on Monday, May 4 in New York, was found unharmed in a Bronx hospital following an assault, his father reported on Twitter on Saturday morning. The rapper known locally by the stage name Ubu was on vacation with his family when he went missing Monday night. The alert had been launched by the Consulate of France in New York, which had posted, the day after his disappearance, a wanted notice via Twitter with a photo of the young man and a telephone number to reach in case of information.

Monday, after spending the afternoon with his friends in the Brooklyn neighborhood, the young man headed for Harlem to join his family who were renting accommodation in this other neighborhood located north of Manhattan. At 8:30 p.m., he had taken the subway but missed his station and ended up, by mistake, in the Bronx. “He warned us that he would be late after missing his stop,” said Laura, his sister, in the regional press. The young man’s last text was at 10 p.m.

Two disturbing messages

The hours go by and the family begins to worry. Especially after receiving two voice messages sent from the young boy’s cell phone. “We hear that he’s probably in a bar. He talks to people who seem to be offering him drugs. Arthur replies, ‘I’m not a bad guy’, I’m not a bad boy. He seems reluctant to make proposals, ”said his girlfriend Amandine, interviewed on France Bleu . These messages make them think of a bad meeting.

The days go by and anguish rises. The whole family and his entourage are mobilized to find the young man, especially his father, who remained in New York. A pot was even put online to fund research and print disappearance notice posters. No relative wants to believe that the youngster was able to run away in New York. “I do not see him leave on a whim,” said Eddy, one of his childhood friends. Ditto for Amandine, the girlfriend: “He has just had his special education competition, he had great grades, he was impatient to start, he had projects. He was happy with his trip ”.

It was only after six days of anguish that the young man was found in a hospital bed on Friday evening. “He is in good health”, announced his father Frédéric Astié on Twitter. According to one of his relatives, he was assaulted in the metro and was hospitalized following this altercation. Saturday morning, her sister, Laura Astié, exploded with joy on the social network, after hearing the news: “I cry with joy, it’s over,” she wrote this Saturday morning … J ‘ have never liked a wake-up call so much … I’m going to give him the hug of his life and I’ll slap him afterwards ”.

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