Timeline:

(All times are EST)

Background Information

• December 20, 1998: Vladek was born in Russia.  

• 2004: Vladek and his sister Irena were adopted through an orphanage by the Hasel family from Florida.

• 2004- 2011: Vladek grew up in Inverness, Florida with the Hasel family.

• Summer 2011-2017 - Steve and Cheryl separated and Vladek went to live with Steve in Clermont.

• June 2017: Vladek moved to Arlington, Texas to live with his half-sister Cari.

• 2018: Vladek joined the Marines.

• December 2018: Vladek graduated from boot camp in San Diego, California.

• Summer 2019: Vladek was discharged from the Marines under honorable conditions due to "failure to adapt".

• September 2019: Vladek went to live with Steve and his new wife.

• January 2020: Vladek moved to Detroit, Michigan to live with Cari.

• March 2020: Vladek financially supported Cari and her daughter during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• August 2020: Vladek moved back to Winter Springs, Florida to live with his father, Steve and his wife.

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Leading up to Vladek’s Disappearance

• 2020: Vladek struggled with mental health and finding a purpose.

• November 2020: Steve had separated from his wife and Steve and Vladek moved into The Place at Alafaya apartment complex in Orlando, Florida.

• Early 2021: Vladek's behavior changed and he started rejecting materialism. He also started helping the unhoused population in East Orlando. This gave him purpose. 

• November 3, 2021: Vladek purchased a $60 pocket knife and told his dad it was for protection. Later that night the car that Steve and Vladek shared breaks down at Waterford Lakes Plaza while Vladek is out driving and Vladek walks home.

• November 4, 2021: The car gets towed to the shop and remains there until Steve gets back from the trip. Vladek visited Foxtail Coffee and inadvertently made a customer uncomfortable by putting his knife on the table (he just wanted to take it out of his pocket when sitting down). A trespass warning was issued, but Vladek was unaware.

• November 5, 2021: Vladek helped Steve pack for a trip to Tennessee. Steve left for the trip, and Vladek decided to stay home.

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Disappearance and Initial Investigation

• November 6, 2021: Vladek made his last purchase at Foxtail Coffee. He was issued a trespass warning by the sheriff’s office. To view bodycam footage from this encounter, please click on this link. ​​

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This is the last confirmed sighting and verifiable proof of life, backed by the police response and Foxtail video. ⚠ At the time, Vladek was wearing a black hoodie, khaki shorts, and red slides or sandals. ⚠

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• November 8, 2021: A package was delivered to Steve and Vladek’s apartment, but it was not brought inside.

• November 15, 2021: Steve returned from Tennessee, picking up the car from the mechanic on the way. When he got home, he realized Vladek was missing. A friend reported seeing Vladek around 3 a.m. asking to stay at his apartment.

• November 17, 2021: Bethany filed a missing persons report with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

• November 18, 2021: Bethany requested surveillance footage from The Place at Alafaya, but only footage from the past 7 days was available.

• November 19, 2021: Deputies searched the woods around the apartment complex with helicopters, drones, and a K9 unit. A red slide shoe was found.

• November 20, 2021: A friend reported seeing Vladek at 3 a.m. on November 15.

• December 2021: Bethany and Jodi created a Facebook group to help bring awareness to Vladek’s disappearance.

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Continued Investigation and Efforts

• February 2022: The Hasel family learned about the trespass warning issued to Vladek at Foxtail Coffee.

• April 2022: The family put Vlad’s missing person info on billboards around Orange County.

• May 2022: The Sheriff’s Office received reports of Vlad being spotted at a 7-Eleven and an Orange County unhoused encampment, but these tips led nowhere.

• Summer 2022: Search organization CUE conducted an in-depth search of the woods with around 30 search dogs but found nothing.

• September 2022: Hurricane Ian hit Florida, flooding the apartment complex and destroying most of Vladek’s belongings.

• November 6, 2022: It’s been one whole year since anyone has verifiably seen Vladek.

• November 28, 2022: New detectives were assigned to Vlad’s case.

• August 4, 2023: Human remains were found near where Vladek went missing, but they were not Vladek's remains.

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Current Status

• Ongoing: The family continues to search for Vladek and spread awareness through social media and other means.

• If you'd like more information, please view this research document put together by the family. 

 

Main take aways
- He was not a student at UCF or any other nearby campus. However - the
apartment complex they live at is very close to UCF.

 

- Vladek was not working at the time he disappeared – was being financially
supported by my dad.

 

- He has a Facebook and Instagram but they are blank…he never posted on
them/used them. There is a chance he could have used them for messaging
but I can’t gain access to his accounts so I am unable to find that out.

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- His limited online presence was playing his PlayStation and watching
YouTube videos via a smart TV, still trying to gain access to those accounts
to see who he was following and if he was messaging anyone on those
platforms

 

- He wasn’t into the party scene or drugs/alcohol…the most he has tried was
weed.

 

- He is well recognized at the businesses/restaurants he would frequent on
University Blvd, Alafaya Trail, and Waterford Lakes Plaza due to his
generosity and friendly personality. He spent his free time helping people in
need, he would give money to homeless individuals and have lunch with
them/long conversations at restaurants and cover their check. He has a
huge heart for people and will strike up conversations with people that he
met, he wanted to make sure they felt heard and that they mattered.

 

- We adopted him and his biological sister, Irena, from Russia when he was 5
years old but he has no contacts with anyone there. He did express a
general interest in going back at some point but he doesn’t have a current
passport - the only thing I know about his biological parents is that they had
a history of alcohol abuse.

 

- Vladek shared a car with my dad – had access to it the majority of the
time, the rare times he couldn’t use the car (If my dad had to go out of town
for a doctor’s appt) he would walk to places, ie: businesses on University. He
has never used public transportation around the apartment complex to the
family’s knowledge.

 

- He has never gone more than a couple days without reaching out to
someone in the family. If he was in the right frame of mind at the time of his
disappearance he would at least told his biological sister, Irena, that he is
okay and not to worry - which he did not.