As dusk began to fall on July 29, 2001, 21-year-old Lorne Boulet woke up from a nap, said goodbye to his parents and set off on his usual evening walk. He left his cell phone, his wallet, his car and his dog, Sasha, at home.

Four years later, Boulet still hasn't returned.

Despite hiring a bounty hunter and a private investigator, contacting every homeless shelter in the country and getting Boulet's picture featured on a car during a California NASCAR race, Boulet's parents have no leads to their son's whereabouts.

"Until I'm on the other side of the turf,"said Lorne Boulet Sr., Boulet's father, "I'll never give up."

Over the passing years, Boulet's parents and aunt have intensified their search for Boulet, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia before he disappeared.

In February 2004, Louise Holmburg, Boulet's aunt, started a Web site devoted to Lorne's case. The family sends a DVD full of old home videos and pictures of Boulet to shelters and hospitals, just in case someone might recognize Lorne's broad smile, with his missing front tooth.

But while Boulet's family clings to the hope that one day Boulet might return, the past four years have taken their toll.

"I'm not coping well," said Evelyn Boulet, his mother. "Time goes by and your hope diminishes."

Lorne Boulet Zoom

Boulet's parents blame his disappearance on mental illness. After taking the drug Ecstasy for several months following his graduation from Pembroke Academy, Boulet underwent a dramatic transformation.

Once a popular student who loved to work out and dreamed of opening his own gym, Boulet started to sleep all day. He gained weight. After suffering hallucinations, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

"His hopes and dreams were gone," his mother said. "I watched him go back to being a little child."

Schizophrenia often strikes those in late adolescence or their early 20s. While its symptoms vary, many schizophrenics suffer from hallucinations and delusional thinking.

Lorne withdrew from his old friends. He became attached to Holmburg's three young sons, and took them swimming and snowboarding, and to Canobie Lake Park. Last week, Holmburg asked her middle son, Tim, what she should say about Boulet at the vigil they held in Chichester last Friday.

"He said, 'He's like a big brother and a best friend and a dad,'"Holmburg said. "He was a role model. He was so good with them."

But if Boulet's illness brought him closer to his young cousins, it proved extremely difficult for his parents.

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