When Josh Friedman's old band, Sleeperhorse, broke up, he figured it was time for a change. So a few months ago, he moved to Prague to teach English, travel and to move his life forward in a positive direction after having a "pretty shitty first half of the year." Unfortunately, a recent international incident has made the second half of the year not so great either. Less than a month ago, Friedman and his friend Devon Hollahan took a trip to Frankfurt, Germany to go see Portugal. The Man. After the show, Hollahan mysteriously disappeared, and Friedman was the last person who saw him. As you can see from Today Show clip above from last week, the story has made national headlines.
"Devon and I were drinking with the Portugal dudes after the show,"
Friedman recalls. "Since they had a bunch of cabs coming to take them
back to the city center, we rode back with them to their hotel, then
took off on our own to find a hostel."
Not knowing the layout of
the city, Friedman stopped and asked some people for directions,
letting Hollahan know that he would be right back. Because of
Friedman's limited German and the group's limited English, it took
longer than expected. When Friedman turned around, Hollahan was gone.
Knowing his friend's tendencies to wander off when drunk, Friedman
though nothing of it at first. "Since he had pulled similar stunts on
his friends and I back in Prague," Friedman explains, "at first I was
more angry than worried."
Unfortunately, despite the efforts
of Friedman, Hollahan's parents and the German authorities, Hollahan
has still not been found. German police have searched riverbanks and
alleyways around the city, with the aid of tracking dogs but have had
no luck thus far. Hollahan's father, seen in the Today Show clip being interviewed by
Matt Lauer, suspects foul play. As for Friedman, he just hopes the
whole thing reaches a positive resolution.
"This makes it hard
to operate on a day to day level," he offers. "I'm terrified by the
fact that he hasn't shown up. I've been questioned extensively by both
the German and American authorities, who have assured me that they're
doing everything possible to find my friend."
