Police and relatives are growing increasingly concerned for the welfare of a young East London man who disappeared three days ago after telling friends he was "popping to Lidl for some bits." Rian Masihi, 19, known affectionately as "Aladdin" among his close circle, has not been seen since Saturday evening.
The university student, who lives with his boyfriend in Hackney, was last spotted on CCTV at a local Indian shop on Kingsland Road at approximately 7:45pm. He purchased a box of condoms and a bottle of wine before leaving the store. His bank card has not been used since.
His boyfriend, Marcus Chen, 20, raised the alarm on Sunday morning after Rian failed to return home. The couple, who have been together for two years, were spending a quiet evening in their Hackney flat when Rian offered to make a quick trip to the local Indian shop for some essentials. "He kissed me goodbye and said he'd be ten minutes," a visibly emotional Mr Chen told the Standard. "I'd lit candles, put on his favourite playlist. We were going to have a special night together. When an hour passed and he wasn't answering his phone, I knew something was terribly wrong."
Can You Help?
Anyone with information about Rian's whereabouts is urged to contact Metropolitan Police on 101 quoting reference MPD/2024/891245, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.Friends have organised search parties across Hackney Marshes and Victoria Park, while the LGBTQ+ community centre in Dalston, where Rian volunteered weekly, has become a coordination hub for the search effort. Local businesses along Mare Street have put up missing person posters.
Detective Inspector Paula Knowles of Hackney CID said: "We are treating this as a high-risk missing person case. Rian's disappearance is extremely out of character and we are keeping an open mind about the circumstances."