UPDATE: Duesterhaus' Car Found In Rosslyn Parking Garage

Update, 10:51 a.m., Sunday, July 31:

An email from Rich Duesterhaus, Tom Duesterhaus' father, said the car was found in a commercial parking garage near the Rosslyn Metro station.

And he wrote that the family had a reunion last weekend that had been planned since January.

"Tom's siblings had hoped that he might return for that but of course that did not happen," Richard Duesterhaus wrote.

"Finding the car does not seem to have helped us at all with where Tom went or is at this time," he wrote. "Since we already were 99% sure he was in VA Beach on [June] 18th the location of the car since the 17th doesn't shed much light other than he chose not to take the Youth Apostle Institute car."

He said that his family hopes his son will show up.

"Meanwhile we continue to appreciate the prayers and thoughts that are coming to us from all over the country. And we also continue to appreciate the support and cooperation we are receiving from the media and the police departments and other public officials," he wrote.

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Original: It's been a month since Vienna native Tom Duesterhaus

But the mystery behind the McLean man's disappearance deepened Thursday, just three days before his 38th birthday, when his car showed up in a Northern Virginia parking garage about 200 miles away from where he was last seen.

Duesterhaus' car had been parked in the garage since June 17,  the day he disappeared, his father Rich said in a Facebook posting.

It's not clear in which garage the car was discovered.

Lucy Balsten, a friend of Duesterhaus, said attendants at the parking garage finally noticed the car and called police. A security camera tape later showed Duesterhaus parking the car and walking away, she said.

"So far the detective that has gone through the car has found nothing that would help us know where Tom is at," Rich Duesterhaus said.
Fairfax County police were not immediately available for comment.

The 37-year-old Vienna native . He was spotted three times in Virginia Beach in the two days that followed.

Bishop O'Connell High School administrators said days later that , which Duesterhaus and his seven siblings also attended. It's not clear when Duesterhaus, who began teaching English at the school in 1999, was told about the decision. Rich Duesterhaus said 

Fairfax County Police remained optimistic about the search earlier this month, but said 

Since then, his family, friends and former students have wrestled with a situation They've held prayer services and all begging Duesterhaus for a call or text letting them know he's okay – or better yet, to come home.

Duesterhaus' cell phone and credit cards have not been used since he disappeared, but friends and family are hopeful about his return. Duesterhaus did much of his community service work with homeless youth, they say, and it's possible he is seeking refuge in one of those shelters or simply looking for some time alone.

Balsten said the discovery of Duesterhaus' car means he likely hitch hiked or used cash to take a bus to Virginia Beach.

Clarification: Balsten is also Rich Duesterhaus' sister.

Patch will update this story as more information becomes available