On May 4, Kevin Hulse called his parents to tell them that he was heading out west with some old friends to start a new life. He told them they wouldn’t hear from him for a long time. Then he vanished.

The former university art and graphic design student, 22, has been missing for three months, leaving behind his wallet, ID, clothes and almost all of his possessions. So far, searches for clues of where he might be have turned up very little and have left his family and friends frustrated.

“We don’t really understand what he was walking away from,” said Larry Hulse, Kevin’s father. “It’s been very confusing for me and his mother. We have no idea where he is or who he’s with.”

The art department sent out an e-mail to the student and faculty listservs Tuesday night after Hulse’s parents reached out to the university for information. However, no one seems to have any idea where he might be.

Hulse transferred to the university in 2006 from Salisbury University to pursue an education in graphic design. Friends and family remember he initially tackled school with enthusiasm.

Photography professor Barbara Tyroler worked with Hulse in class and on several independent projects. She remembers him as an eager student with a lot of commitments.

“He was always so enthusiastic and really sweet. He always spoke fondly of his family,” she said. “He always seemed like he was juggling things, but he was very accommodating, wanted to please and wanted to do a good job on his projects,” she said.

Hulse had numerous interests at school: He explored painting, photography, playing guitar and even poetry in addition to his studies in graphic arts. He enjoyed hikes, rock-climbing and trips to scenic destinations, friends said. He even pitched for the club baseball team in 2007 and 2008.

“He was such a goofy, funny guy. Everybody loved him, and no one ever said anything bad about him,” said senior English major Kate Ethridge, who knew Hulse in high school as well. “He was the life of parties, but he was also incredibly intelligent. His art and poetry were wonderful.”

His roommates told police Hulse acted uncharacteristically withdrawn and anti-social in the month leading up to his disappearance. He stopped attending classes and left his part-time job at Premier Kites.

“I don’t even know what he did during the day. He gave up baseball, his job, he stopped driving his car, he stopped shaving,” said roomate Alex Collich, now a junior at Catholic University. “He let a lot of problems pile up in his life.”

Tyroler also noticed abnormal behavior toward the end of the semester.

“His performance became very erratic toward the end,” she said. “He just sort of stopped coming to class. I never really got an opportunity to ask him what was wrong.”

Yet Hulse still saw his family, and even acted as his sister’s sponsor during her Catholic confirmation in the week leading up to his disappearance. After the confirmation, he allegedly drove to the family’s house at Lake Gaston in Virginia for a few days before evaporating into thin air, leaving everything – and everyone – behind.

“I was completely shocked when I heard,” said senior business major Katie Merkel, who stopped getting calls from Hulse in January. “Apparently he was going through some kind of depression or something, but you never would’ve known it. He always had a smile on his face.”

The Hulse family feels that the lack of findings by police supports their persistent hope their son is still alive.

“He told his mother that he wasn’t suicidal,” Larry Hulse said.

His son is not in trouble with the law, Larry Hulse said. Court records show nothing beyond a traffic ticket on his record.

Since Hulse is legally an adult, and because he called to say he was leaving, technically he is well within his rights to have disappeared. His parents speculate that he might’ve fallen in with the wrong crowd, but they maintain that his well-being is their primary concern.

“I am hopeful [that we’ll see him again],” Larry Hulse said. “We just want to make sure he’s where he wants to be on his own free will.”

The Hulses hope that anyone with any helpful information or experience can come forward. The family plans to hire a private investigator in the next few weeks to track down their loved one.

“We’ll take anything. We’re going to pursue this,” Larry Hulse said. “We want to know he’s OK.”

University Police are not actively involved in the investigation, spokesman Paul Dillon said.

The Montgomery County and Prince George’s County Police investigators assigned to Hulse’s case could not be reached for comment.

The Hulse family asks anyone with information to e-mail them at lehulse@aol.com or cahulse@aol.com.

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