Colin Gillis

PIERCEFIELD -- State police are still searching for a Tupper Lake teen who went missing two years ago and was last seen in the town of Piercefield.

Colin Gillis, who would now be 20 year old, was last seen by a motorist walking westbound on state Route 3 near the St. Lawrence-Franklin county line.

A news release from New York State Police says the driver was concered about seeing a pedestrian at that hour, in that location and seemingly alone, and proceeded to the Tupper Lake Police Department to make a report. State police then sent a road patrol to the reported area, but didn't find anything.

Gillis was last seen at a party on Paskungameh Road with about 40 other people. After realizing that Gillis hadn’t returned home, family and friends began searching for Colin on March 11, 2012. State police and the State Forest Rangers directed a land search for weeks. Gillis' personal effects were located during the initial stages of the search along State Route 3, near the county line, where he was last seen. State police divers searched the Raquette River, which winds it way out of Raquette Pond in the village of Tupper Lake, past Setting Pole Dam Road near the county line, and through the town of Piercefield. Law enforcement also used helicopters to look for Gillis.

"Although limited searches of the woods and water near where Colin was last seen will continue, a large portion of the area has been eliminated," reads a state police news release.

The Bureau of Criminal Investigation in Ray Brook has an ongoing investigation into the disappearance. Police have focused on the people who would have interacted with Gillis during the early morning hours of March 11, 2012 and have not reported that contact to law enforcement. Investigators would like information about, or hope to speak with, that person or persons.

Anyone who may have information about someone who witnessed Colin Gillis or interacted with him on State Route 3 is asked to contact the BCI Unit in Ray Brook at (518) 897-2000.