Missing: Where is Bryan "Vladek" Hasel?

Who is Vladek?

Bryan ‘Vladek’ Hasel (who often went by Vlad) was born on December 20th 1998 in Russia, where he lived in an orphanage alongside his older sister Irena. In 2004 Vlad & Irena were adopted by Steve and Cheryl Hasel, joining their six children; older siblings Amy, Cari and Jodi and younger siblings, Jonathan, Bethany and Kristyn. The older three had already moved out by this time and shortly after they moved in Jonathan left for college, so Vlad, Irena, Bethany and Kristyn lived together with Steve and Cheryl in Inverness,Florida. 

The Hasel family met a translator through the adoption agency that lived locally - a Russian woman with a daughter around the same age as Irena, who supported the family to navigate the adoption. Before the adoption Steve, Cheryl, Bethany and Kristyn would go to her house and with help be able to speak to Irena over the phone. Once the adoption had been finalised the Hasel’s visited her house more often, allowing Vlad and Irena to hang out with her daughter, speaking Russian and getting help learning English. Vladek learnt English very quickly, eventually losing his accent and forgetting how to speak Russian. 

Growing up Vladek loved to play sports of all kinds including basketball, soccer and T-ball, at one point he even played pee-wee football. His enjoyment of sports likely stemmed in part from not liking to sit still. His favourite holiday has always been Christmas, he especially loved decorating the tree. His sister Bethany recalls one year where Vladek let her put Christmas lights all around him, then he put the angel tree topper on his head. He also enjoyed playing card games with family and winning them, loved beef jerky and rap music like Drake. As a teenager Vladek often would hang out with his sister and her friends, tagging along at New Years lock-ins, considering these as some of his favourite childhood memories. Friends and family described Vladek as having a very social and friendly personality; he was known to start up conversations with waiters and give large tips, including $100-$300 tips if he found out they were struggling in any way. His sisters in particular describe him as “the friendliest person you’ll ever meet” and that “Anybody within a few feet of him, if you make eye contact, he’s going to start a conversation just to hear more about your story. And if there’s a way that he can help in any way, he will try to.” 

Childhood photo of Vladek wrapped in christmas lights

Background

In 2011 Steve and Cheryl Hasel went through a separation. Vladek initially went to live with Steve in Clermont Florida, then experienced several moves between states. In June of 2017 after graduating highschool, he moved in with his half-sister Cari in Texas. They lived in Arlington and Vladek worked as a game attendant at Six Flags, security for the Cowboys Stadium, and for a garage door warehouse company. Cari was single at this time while also expecting her first child, Vladek was a huge support to Cari during the pregnancy and stayed with her in the hospital.

In September 2019 he moved in with Steve and his new wife, now in Winter Springs, Florida for a few months, then in January 2020 he moved to Detroit, Michigan to live with Cari again. While in Detroit Vlad gained employment as an environmental services tech at the local hospital, this was a positive experience and he liked the work. Vlad also enjoyed hanging out with his niece during this time, he was a very loving, supportive and present uncle. Vladek would later financially support Cari through the covid pandemic. Following a move with Cari to New Hampshire, where he disliked his job and was eventually let go, in August 2020 Vladek moved states for the final time back to Winter Springs, Florida to live with his father Steve and Steve’s Wife. 

Vladek’s lifelong dream was serving in the marines, this dream was why he moved to live with Cari the first time in June 2017. Living in Texas meant he could qualify to enlist in the California boot-camp rather than North Carolina. In September 2018 he achieved his dream, starting basic training in San Diego, California. He graduated from bootcamp in the December of that year and shortly thereafter served a desk job through the marines. Unfortunately Vladek’s experience was not what he envisioned and he did not enjoy it. In the summer of 2019 he was honourably discharged for ‘failure to adapt’, telling the Marines he was having trouble adapting to the routine because it was bringing up negative memories from his time in the orphanage. This prompted the move back to his dad, and then to live with Cari again as he figured out what his next steps were. 

Vladek at his marine bootcamp graduation day

Following his discharge from the Marines Vladek struggled a lot, he had a hard time finding a purpose as this had always been his only goal. He was not working or enrolled in school because he didn’t know what he wanted to do, a situation that was unfortunately causing friction with Steve’s wife and eventually her and Steve separated. 

In November 2020 Steve and Vlad moved into an Orlando apartment complex called The Place at Alafaya, close to the University of Central Florida’s Campus. Vladek and Steve shared a vehicle and although he occasionally used the UCF free buses, Vladek struggled with directions and preferred to walk if he couldn’t use the car. Vladek lacked interest in the party scene and was not dating, however he did have a few friends including one who worked at Smokey Bones restaurant that he would text with regularly. Vladek enjoyed spending time on his Playstation and watching Youtube videos, and some days would go into the woods behind the apartment complex’s basketball court, to smoke and sing. He was well known by both maintenance staff in the apartment complex and staff at Foxtail Coffee on University Blvd and Collegiate Way, where he was going up to 3 times a week, sometimes for hours at a time (he went by the name Bryan there.) 

Over the course of 2020 and 2021 Vladek’s behaviour began to change and worry his family, he appeared to be more depressed and struggled a lot with falling asleep. In an interview Steve told WESH News “I think he was just confused about what his life was headed toward because he hadn’t been able to get a job and he was just depressed.” 

In early 2021 Vladek started helping unhoused people in the East Orlando area, bringing them food, taking them to eat at restaurants and forming friendships with them. Helping the unhoused population did seem to give Vladek a focus and a purpose of some sort, Steve was happy that he had found something to be passionate about and so was happy to support him financially with his efforts.

Also in early 2021 Vladek’s ideals shifted, described as a switch flipping by his sisters. He rejected materialism which was in stark contrast to past behaviour, for example as a teenager he wanted all name brand clothing and shoes. His room was very sparse and minimalistic by this point and he slept on an air mattress, refusing Steve’s offer to buy him a bed, and at one point even claimed to have broken his phone as it was a “distraction.” Steve and Irena insisted he carry a flip phone so people could still reach him, which he agreed to although it wasn’t uncommon for him to go out without it. Just before he broke his phone, Vlad had received 40+ calls from the same number, belonging to an unhoused couple; this couple had previously taken advantage of Vlad financially, although when he got his new number he never heard from them again. 

At the same time Vlad spent a lot of time listening to a Youtube Pastor, who focused a lot on heaven, archangels and demons, and began making odd comments. These comments included: saying  “What is the point if we can just be in Heaven?, indicating a desire to hike the Appalachian trail, when he and Steve were discussing renting a house with Bethany and Jodi saying he didn’t need a room and would “camp outside to prepare” and telling family and friends of his desire to go and live in the woods. Bethany would later say that hiking the trail always seemed like a pipe dream, that Vlad would sometimes say big things to see people’s reactions.  

Lead up to disappearance

November 3rd 2021: Vladek purchased a pocket knife for $60, when Steve asked him why he replied that it was for protection and they didn’t discuss it much further. Later in the day Steve’s car broke down at Waterford Lakes Plaza, while Vlad was driving it. Vlad expected Steve to be upset about it, but he was told it was an old car and they could afford to get it fixed. Steve and Cheryl were due to go on a Tennessee trip for Bethany’s birthday on November 5th, so the car was towed to the shop the following day and arranged to collect it on the 15th when they returned. Vlad was due to join them on the trip but changed his mind a few days before they left. 

November 4th: Vladek visits one of his favourite spots, Foxtail coffee shop. While there, a customer reported to employees that Vladek was making him uncomfortable, the customer also said he was going to leave so nothing was said to Vladek. The customer returned later and stated that he had also seen Vladek place a pocket knife on the table. Foxtail has a zero weapons policy so decided to issue a trespass warning for Vladek based on this information, however by this time he had already left so was unaware of any issues. Later that night, Vladek was said to be “very hyper focused on religion, talking to Steve about archangels and demons” and remarked to Steve that “You have to be dark to kill the dark.” Steve didn’t think his comments made much sense, and wondered if he might have been quoting the pastor from Youtube, so he called Jodi to tell her that Vladek wasn’t making a lot of sense. Jodi encouraged Steve to call and request a wellness check on Vladek, but Steve felt little would come of it, believing that Vladek would know what to say to not cause any alarm. 

November 5th: Vladek was given $100 in cash, and a credit card by Steve before he left for Tennessee, Steve also offered to buy groceries but Vladek felt there was enough food in the house. Steve asked Vladek to bring in a package that was due to arrive when he was away, which Vladek agreed to. That afternoon when Steve left for Tennessee, he was worried for Vladek because of what happened the night before.  

November 5th-November 15th: Steve made multiple attempts to contact Vladek, both through text and voicemail. Vladek never responded to these, nor to any messages from the rest of his family or his friend who worked at Smokey Bones restaurant. Because the family were up in the mountains they weren’t sure if maybe their messages were not going through, he was also known not to keep his phone on him so they weren’t too panicked at first. 

On November 8th Steve received a message about a package delivery to his apartment, he still had not heard from Vladek but assumed he would take it inside as agreed. 

Disappearance

On November 15th at around 4pm, Steve collected his car from the repair shop before arriving home from Tennessee. He quickly noticed that the package was still outside, once inside the apartment he checked the kitchen and found that it looked untouched. No food had been eaten and there were no dirty dishes, plus Vladek’s flip phone, gym shoes and recently purchased pocket knife remained in his bedroom. Steve felt that the apartment appeared to have not been lived in, like Vladek had not been staying there. Although he was concerned Steve didn’t file a missing persons report right away, he had arrived home a day earlier than planned, so he wondered if maybe Vladek was planning to wait for his return home before returning himself. However Vladek never showed up and did not contact Steve or anyone else, causing the family’s concern to grow even more, he talked to his sister Irena nearly everyday so this behaviour was extremely out of character. 

On November 17th when Vladek still hadn’t appeared, his sister Bethany contacted the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and filed a missing person’s report. The Hasel family started to create and hang up flyers all over town, with Steve’s number on to try and spread the word. On that same day Bethany also posted on her Facebook account in order to keep people updated on search efforts. At 7:30pm she posted an update that they’d been posting flyers in all the local restaurants, as well as the apartment complex. 

Soon after Steve received a tip from a maintenance worker, he left a voicemail message in response to one of the flyers, Steve has bad hearing and what he thought he heard was that the maintenance worker had a conversation with Vladek ‘last Friday’ at the basketball courts and that after talking for five minutes, Vladek walked into the woods. Steve relayed this information to the Sheriff’s department who wrote it in their first report, it wasn’t till a few days later (when Bethany listened to the voicemail herself to confirm the sighting of Vladek walking into the woods) that they realised what was actually said. The maintenance worker had actually said he saw and spoke to Vladek for a few minutes, then mentioned he knew Vladek liked to go into the woods to be alone, smoke or sing and suggested checking that area.  Originally the family took ‘last Friday’ to mean November 12th but they now wonder if it was actually the 5th, the reasoning being that the basketball court is within 50 feet of the apartment and to get to it you have to take the sidewalk which is only a few feet from the door of the apartment, if the encounter had happened on the 12th Vladek would surely have seen the package and taken it inside. Steve and Bethany immediately called the detective to update him with the correct information on the sighting, yet it took several months for the statement that “Vladek was last seen walking into the woods” to be removed from the missing flyer. 

On November 18th Bethany contacted management for the Place at Alafaya to request surveillance footage of the complex. Unfortunately footage was only available for the past 7 days- the rest was deleted, they promised to review footage from the two cameras they had outside the laundry room and gym but said they could only release it to law enforcement who requested it themselves.  Bethany passed this information onto law enforcement, when she followed up a week later to see what they were able to recover, she was told it was still on their list to do. Together Bethany and Steve did a search of the woods behind the basketball court, this is not a large area but is very dense and at the time very overgrown- there were lots of trees, palmetto bushes and wetlands with swampy areas. They managed to search 30 feet deep before they could go no further. 

On November 19th between the hours of 11am and 5pm, several deputies were sent out by the lead investigator to the apartment; they were also asked to scope out the woods around the apartment complex and near the basketball court. Because of the challenges associated with searching such a dense area, the Sheriff’s office needed permission from a local agricultural group to search areas like it. In the end they did begin a  search, but only made it as far as Bethany and Steve did the previous day in the section by the basketball court. Afterwards they flew helicopters and drones overhead, as well as bringing in a K9 search dog. During the initial search along the tree line of the apartment complex, a red slide shoe was found. Steve was shown a photo of the shoe and confirmed that Vladek wore that type of shoe but could not remember if he owned red ones, the shoe was sent off for DNA testing. 

According to a post Bethany made at 11:30pm on the 19th, the following efforts had also been made. A thermal scan had been done over the wooded areas and nothing was found, the search dog had been taken out and also found nothing- however it was raining heavily that day which made searching harder and may have interfered with results. Officers had posted additional flyers in homeless shelters and the University Blvd/Alafaya trail area; they had also gone to scope out the Catholic prayer garden that Vladek frequented. Between 5 and 7pm detectives spent time canvassing door to door in the neighbourhood. At some point the Orange County Sheriff’s office took possession of Vladek’s phone; it had been found next to the charger cord but was dead when it was found, when examined it was discovered that starting from the 6th November all of his messages were unread. 

November 20th: police continued their door to door canvassing during which they found a witness, a friend of Vladek’s who claimed to have seen Vladek at around 3am on Monday November 15th. He said that Vladek came to his apartment and requested to stay the night. The friend said it wouldn’t work because his girlfriend and kids were there and would soon be waking up. Vladek then asked if he had a gun, the friend said no as he had a criminal record and was not allowed to be around them, Vladek appeared anxious to leave but the friend asked him why he needed a gun, Vladek replied that it was for protection and then specified it was for protection against an animal. He also told his friend that he wanted to go off the grid. Separately Bethany posted on Facebook that she had been asked not to post any further updates, officers were concerned that the high amount of detail may hinder the ongoing investigation- especially if Vladek or any perpetrators were reading the updates and trying to avoid being found. 

Bethany and Steve continued to canvas the University Boulevard/Alafaya Trail community; most people remembered Vladek for his generous nature. Everyone was asked to keep an eye out for him. 

In December 2021 Jodi and Bethany started a Facebook group- Find Bryan “Vladek” Hasel, to bring more awareness to his disappearance. 

A non-profit organisation called Night Owl Reconnaissance reached out to the family and offered to study Vladek’s Playstation and Youtube accounts. On February 19th 2022 they shipped Vladek’s Playstation out to them, but the organisation was unable to gain access to his accounts.  

On February 24th 2022 a detective debriefed Steve, Bethany and Jodi on new updates, Vladek’s flip-phone and laptop were also returned to the family. Bethany asked the detective if they had been able to speak with the people Vladek had been in contact with on his phone, she was told no and that they thought she had done so. The family were also told that they had been unable to get the laptop turned on (it was old and had to remain plugged in to turn on) and so they hadn’t looked through it either. Bethany was shown a photo of the red slide shoe-the same photo that Steve had been shown earlier in the investigation, she too confirmed that it was the type of shoe Vladek wore but she was unsure if he had a red pair. Earlier DNA testing done on the shoe was inconclusive. Bethany asked if they had been able to see his movements and confirm when he was last seen,by checking footage from the restaurants he would frequent or from the street cameras. The family was told there was too much footage to review and that the street cameras were not working properly. However they were told that the last time Vladek was verifiably seen was November the 6th at Foxtail coffee house, where he had been issued a trespass warning. This was the first time the family learned about the trespass warning,when Bethany asked the detective why it had been issued all they said was "Oh you know your brother, he was probably talking too much.” It would be a while before the family received all the information about this incident. 

Vladek at Foxtail coffee during his last confirmed sighting

When Steve heard about the trespass he told NewsNation, “My first thought was: he had a mental breakdown because of what happened with the coffee shop, and his level of depression to start with. And that maybe he went off into the woods like he’d one time thought of doing, and just stayed there”

In April 2022 Jodi and an acquaintance of Vladek’s spoke, this individual told Jodi that Vladek had called him a couple of nights before he disappeared. Vladek asked his acquaintance if he could crash for a night or two on his coach, he said he told Vladek no as he didn’t feel comfortable with it. He described Vladek as being “upbeat and energetic” during the call, Vladek expressed that for the last few months he had wanted to have a pilgrimage and preach the bible, but had recently had a change of mind and wanted to sing instead. 

On April 9th 2022, after The Hasel family reached out to Foxtail coffee shop for more information on the trespass incident, the family met with the manager. The manager explained that they had previously had customers complain that Vlad’s behaviour was atypical and was making them nervous-he would often pace around the shop for several hours, he wore headphones “blasting music” and sometimes would sing out loud. However he also noted that Vlad would always comply with requests to quieten down, he said that Vlad had mentioned to the employees in the past that he was sleep deprived and overall he got the impression Vlad was struggling. The manager 

Then described in more detail the events leading up to his trespass warning, starting on November 4th. She told them of the complaint about the knife, that no description of the knife was given and that staff did not witness it but it was taken seriously, he indicated that he felt Vlad may have been escalating. However  he did state the company policy in order to trespass someone for a weapon was not followed properly, according to the policy the customer must be present and staff must view the weapon on the customer’s person. As confirmed earlier, staff did not witness the pocket-knife but a member of staff called the non-emergency police number to have an officer come and issue the warning, but by then Vlad had already left, so they issued it when he returned on November 6th. During the meeting the manager also provided the family with a still image from their security cameras of Vlad, which confirmed what he was wearing, this image was from 8:11am November 6th. 

After receiving this screenshot of what Vlad was last seen wearing, Bethany reached out to the detective and asked to see the picture of the red slide found during the first woodland search again, her request was denied, When she asked if he could at least confirm whether the slide found was roughly the same size, he asked her what size shoes Vlad wore and to send over the screenshot from Foxtail.  Friends of the family also soon put in a public records request for the bodycam footage of the trespass, this was granted and in September 2022 the family got to see the footage. 

Also in April, the family had Vladek’s missing person information placed on Billboards across Orange County. Jodi told Fox 35 at the time “I don’t believe enough people know that my brother is missing yet.” WESH also reported that by this point the Hasel family were becoming more and more concerned that something bad had happened to Vladek, with Steve telling them, “Maybe somebody followed him into the woods and caused him not to come back out.” 

By May 2022 the Sheriff’s office had received multiple reports of potential sightings of Vladek, both at a 7-Eleven store and an Orange County unhoused encampment; these leads however didn’t go anywhere. 

In the summer of 2022 a search organisation called CUE, assisted by 30 specialist dogs conducted a new and more thorough search of the woodlands, unfortunately nothing was found. 

On November 28th 2022, Bethany informed people through a Facebook post that new detectives had been assigned to Vlad’s case. She and the family hoped that these new detectives would begin to request footage from local businesses, particularly the Wawa from the day Vlad walked away from Foxtail Coffee. Bethany had received a tip that someone had possibly seen him at Wawa sometime around 8:30 or 9:00, on the morning  of November 6th. The person who reported the tip said Vlad was talking to an older unhoused person. 

That same November the family hired a private investigator to pursue additional leads in the case. Together the private investigator and the family were able to put together the following timeline of Vlad’s movements. 

November 4th (2021): Vladek visits one of his favourite spots, Foxtail coffee shop. He arrived at 8pm wearing his headphones and listening to music, he bought a drink and sat down at a table. While sitting down he then pulls out his pocket knife and places it on the table, a customer notices and ends up complaining to staff that Vladek was making him uncomfortable, but didn’t mention the pocket knife. The same customer tells the staff he is going to leave, so no one spoke to Vladek about it. Later that night the customer returns and sees Vladek sat outside, he reported to staff that Vladek had also placed a knife on the table earlier that day. Foxtail coffee had a zero weapons policy so they responded by placing a trespass warning on Vladek, by this time Vladek had already left and so was unaware of this. Later that night, Vladek was said to be “very hyper focused on religion, talking to Steve about archangels and demons” and remarked to Steve that “You have to be dark to kill the dark.” Steve didn’t think his comments made much sense, and wondered if he might have been quoting the pastor from Youtube, so he called Jodi to tell her that Vladek wasn’t making a lot of sense. Jodi encouraged Steve to call and request a wellness check on Vladek, but Steve felt little would come of it, believing that Vladek would know what to say to not cause any alarm. 

November 5th: Vladek was given $100 in cash, and a credit card by Steve before he left for Tennessee, he also offered to buy groceries but Vladek felt there was enough food in the apartment. Steve also asked Vladek to bring in a package that was due to arrive when he was away, which he agreed to. Vladek helped Steve pack the car and around 6pm Steve left for Tennessee, he was worried for Vladek because of what happened the night before. Steve didn’t hear from Vladek again. 

November 6th: At around 2am Vladek called his biological sister Irena, she described it as a typical conversation of them checking in on each other, and that it was a typical time for them to chat. This is the last time she heard from Vladek, this was unusual as she and Vladek were very close and talked almost daily. At approximately 8am Vladek went to Foxtail coffee again, he purchased a cup of coffee- this would be the last purchase on the credit card, and went to sit down. This is when Foxtail called the Sheriff’s office to issue the trespass warning. After the officer arrived he informed Vladek that he was being issued a trespass warning, Vladek seemed visibly confused and didn’t understand the reason for the warning. Officer’s did not explain the reason, simply telling Vladek it was a private business and they can trespass you for anything. Vladek was respectful throughout the entire interaction, asking the officer how his day was going and trying to start up a conversation. Despite this the pain and confusion were clear in his eyes, Foxtail coffee was somewhere Vladek considered his safehaven so to be told he was no longer welcome there was upsetting. In the bodycam footage of the interaction, Vladek can be seen emptying his pockets; he pulls out the credit card Steve left him, his Bank of America debit card and his Id, none of these belongings were ever located. At one point the officer asks Vladek for his phone number, Vladek responds that he had just recently got a new phone, that he didn’t know the number and didn’t have it on him at that time- he had left it at his apartment. This wasn’t out of the ordinary for Vladek. The officer reminds Vladek that he isn’t allowed back at Foxtail coffee and bodycam footage then captures him calmly walking away, in the direction of the Wawa store at 8:26am, the last confirmed sighting of Vladek. In the footage he is wearing a grey shirt with a black hoodie over it and a necklace, khaki shorts, crew length black socks and bright red sliders. 

On November 12th, or the 5th as the family now queries, a maintenance worker saw Vladek at the apartment complex basketball court, they had a short conversation. 

November 15th in the early hours of the morning, Vladek arrives at the apartment of a friend asking to stay there for the night. The friend is unable to accommodate his request. Before leaving, Vladek asked if he had a gun and said he needed it for protection. 

November 15th around 4pm, Steve collects the car and heads home. Vladek is not there, the package was still outside and the apartment appears like no one had been staying there. Steve is concerned but as he arrived home a day early he wonders if maybe Vladek was waiting till the next day to return. 

November 17th: Vladek never turns up or makes contact with anyone, this is highly out of character for him. Bethany and Steve contact the Orange County Sheriff’s Office to report Vladek missing. 

Where is the case now? 

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Vladek remains missing. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office has declined to do any media interviews in this case. However the investigation remains active and they continue to follow up on tips and conduct searches. 

The family are still trying to identify who the Pastor is that Vlad was listening to on Youtube, in hopes it will give them a clearer understanding of what was going on in his mind. 

Vlad’s sisters continue to run the Find Bryan “Vladek” Hasel Facebook page, in an effort to raise awareness of his disappearance. In September of 2024 Bethany conducted a nationwide outreach event, asking people to hand out Vladek’s flyer in their own communities or share it online. In November 2024, on the third anniversary of his disappearance, the family held a prayer vigil for Vladek and handed out bracelets and signs to members of the public. In January 2025, in honour of Vladek’s birthday just a few weeks prior, the family organised a winter donation drive, donating winter supplies to the unhoused community in Orlando. 

The family continues to be supported by Light the Way Missing Person’s advocacy project, Haley Gray of Haley Gray Research and other advocates. 

For the Hasel family the pain of missing Vladek and not knowing where he is or if he’s ok never goes away. All they want is for Vladek to come home, or make contact and let them know he is ok, that he is safe and well. If Vladek contacted them and said he wanted to be on his own, they’d be fine with that but they just need to be sure he is safe and healthy. 

Jodi told NSM.Today “There’s just a huge hole in our family. We love him so much, and we just need to know he’s OK.” Steve, Vlad’s father, says he has trouble sleeping at night. He speaks to God constantly, wanting to know his son is okay.

Sadly in 2022, when Steve was in the process of moving into a new home with his daughters, Hurricane Ian hit Florida. The apartment he and Vladek had lived in was flooded with 3 feet of water and they lost the majority of Vlad’s personal belongings. They were only able to salvage his bible, some clothing and his childhood passport. By July 2023 all leases at the complex had been terminated due to the flooding and it now stands deserted. 

When asked what she thought had happened, Bethany said “There’s one million and one possibilities of what could have happened, but there's no clear direction to look. I do believe someone out there knows what happened. There's so many people that probably have interacted with him that just don't realize that he's a missing person and the information that they hold could be key to his case. Just reaching them is going to be what it takes to really find him. And if he is out there okay, doing his own thing, that's great. That's all we need to know. But in my heart of hearts, something is wrong. Vladek has never been without contact with his family. He wouldn't let Irena, his biological sibling, worry for two years. And he definitely doesn't like the spotlight on him. It's like pulling teeth to get him in pictures. If he had seen any of the coverage that he's had, he would have reached out to someone and be like, ‘I'm good, just doing my own thing’. But there's been nothing. So something's not right. And I really worry about the potential of someone taking advantage of him or he's afraid of somebody. Something is not right.”

A simple way you can help the family is just by sharing Vlad’s missing persons flyer, Jodi said “It might not seem like a huge help, but honestly that's the only way I'm going to find my brother, is by strangers resharing, because eventually we'll reach that one person who might know something. Because, without a doubt, he has a memorable personality.”

Bryan “Vladek” Hasel is a white male, 5 '8 tall with blondish-brown hair and blue eyes. He was last seen at Foxtail Coffee company on University Boulevard, Orlando, Florida on the morning of November 6th 2021, walking in the direction of the Wawa store. He was known to frequent the areas of Waterford Lakes Plaza and University Boulevard, as well at St Joseph’s Catholic Church prayer garden. However he may have left the Florida area. 

Although he was born in Russia and had expressed to Cari’s partner, an interest in returning one day, Vlad had no personal connection to Russia as his was a closed adoption. His passport was also expired at the time he disappeared and it would have been flagged had he attempted to get a new one, so he wouldn’t have been able to go to Russia or elsewhere outside the US. 

Vlad had social media accounts but hadn’t posted on them in several years, he mainly used them for messaging platforms. 

 If you think you see Vladek or anyone resembling him, you are asked to take a photo discreetly and record when and where it happened, then send it to the Orange County Sheriff’s office or reach out to the family directly at FindBryanVladekHasel@gmail.com

If you have information that could lead to the discovery of Vlad, please reach out to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office missing persons unit at 407-254-7000. The case number is 21-83864. Or email the family directly at FindBryanVladekHasel@gmail.com

To stay informed about Vlad’s case and any developments, visit @FINDVLADEKHASEL on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, and TikTok. You can also visit the family’s website. https://findvladekhasel.wixsite.com/find-vladek/timeline