PARIS (AP) — The family of a French backpacker who went missing in Egypt nearly a year ago used the Egyptian president’s visit to Paris on Friday to press for an investigation into the 27-year-old traveler’s disappearance.

Family members and friends raised placards asking, “Where is Yann Bourdon, President Sissi?” — hoping to catch the eye of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi before his meeting with French President Emmaunel Macron. But French police scooped them up from a sidewalk and led them away for identity checks before el-Sissi’s motorcade zoomed past.

Macron’s office wouldn’t say if the French leader spoke specifically about Bourdon to el-Sissi. But it said Macron raises individual cases in his dealings with the Egyptian president.

Bourdon’s family and friends haven’t heard from him since August 2021. His last email to his sister was casual, positive, like others the French graduate student sent on his yearlong backpacking journey. He wrote from Cairo: “I’ll get back to you soon. Give everyone a hug from me. Let me know how Grandpa’s doing.”                      

Nearly a year later, they’re desperate for news and any sign his disappearance is being investigated. Bourdon’s sister and mother said they decided to go public about the case after meeting months of silence or stonewalling from Egyptian authorities.