WASHINGTON - The last time anyone saw 24-year-old James Duncan was around 4:00 p.m. March 26 at his Howard University dorm on the 2200 block of Sherman Avenue NW. Sometime that afternoon, he simply disappeared. No one at Howard has seen or heard from him since that day.

ABC 7/NewsChannel 8 reporter Stephen Tschida spoke with the young man's mother. She is asking for anyone who may know of her son's whereabouts to please call police.

"It's very difficult for me because this is my child, and I haven't seen or heard for him. This is not him; he would call us let us know he is OK," said Duncan's mother, Terri Ellenberg.

D.C. police consider Duncan a critical missing person. His car, a 1998 burgundy Toyota, was found in the 2600 block of North Capital Street Monday.

Duncan's mother, though, is still clinging to the hope that he is OK.

"I love my child; my family love my child. We wanna make sure he's OK," Ellenberg said.

Duncan's mother flew in from California and says she plans to stay in the area passing out flyers and talking with students on Howard University's campus until she learns of her son's whereabouts or finds out what happened to him.

While the pressure of college can prompt some students to drop out and leave school abruptly, for reasons they have not made public D.C. police do not believe that has happened here and consider Duncan's situation critical.

The Metropolitan Police Department (web | news) is asking for the public's help. Duncan is described as a black male who is 5'6" tall and weighs approximately 180 pounds.

"It's weird that I haven't heard anything about it. There's kind of like a family here at Howard. I'll ask around... I'm kind of worried now, actually," admitted one student.

Police are asking anyone with information about Duncan's whereabouts to call 202-727-9099.

Police say Duncan was operating a car similar to the one pictured above.

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