Troubled Young Man Just Vanished

On the evening of March 31, Ryan W. Bidstrup, 21, of 5 Greenpoint Street, went to a friend’s house at 40 Blacksmith Drive in the Highland section of town. He stayed for several hours, during which he posted a greeting on his Facebook page. He left just before midnight.

He has not been seen or heard from since.

This week, Ledyard Police turned to the public for help. They are asking anyone with information that could lead to discovering Bidstrup’s whereabouts to call the department at 860 464-6400.

Police Sgt. Ken Creutz said Bidstrup had told his friends at the Blacksmith Drive residence that he was meeting a friend at the Pumpkin Hill Market, less than a 10-minute walk away.

Creutz said the friend Bidstrup was planning to meet later told police he arrived at the market at the appointed time, but Bidstrup never showed.

Creutz said Bidstrup was planning to leave for Florida the next day. “He was looking forward to the trip,” he said, “but there is no indication that he ever arrived.”

The case has been troubling for several reasons, Creutz said.

“Unfortunately, we had little to go on, and it didn’t take long to exhaust those leads,” he said. “As investigators, we couldn’t find any reason that he would go off the grid.”

Creutz said a particular concern is that Bidstrup has not attempted to contact Courtney, one of three sisters and the one to whom he is closest.

“Another cause for concern is that he was a regular user of Twitter and Facebook, especially Facebook,” Creutz said. But there have been no posts since March 31.

On the evening he disappeared, Bidstup posted on Facebook at around 8:30 p.m. “He stated that he was at a party in the Highlands, and he asked friends to hit him up,” Creutz said.

Bidstrup has had some trouble with the law, Creutz said. Friends who saw him at the Blacksmith Drive residence on the night he disappeared said he struggled with substance abuse issues.

This weekend kayakers discovered a body floating in the Thames River near the Harvard boat dock in Gales Ferry. On Wednesday, however, Ledyard Police Lt. Michael Finkelstein confirmed that the body was a Lebanon man who had gone missing on May 14. 

“At this point there is no evidence to indicate foul play,” Creutz said of Bidstrup's disappearance. "But we can’t rule it out,” he said.