Vigil Planned for Missing UMBC Grad

Friends and neighbors of Sharon VanDyke will hold a candlelight vigil in Baltimore's Riverside Park in support of  her son, Matthew, who has been .

Matthew VanDyke, 31, was visiting friends in Libya that he met on an earlier trip when Moammar Gadhafi’s troops rounded up rebels in the town where he was staying. He and his friends reportedly fled by truck for another town.

Sharon VanDyke last spoke with her son on March 12 during a brief conversation. The next day, he sent GSP coordinates by email. His phone has subsequently stopped working, and there has been no word about his whereabouts since then.

On Monday, friends and family with gather at 6 p.m. near the pavillion at Riverside Park,  at Rverside Avenue and East Randall Street in South Baltimore - the area that is the backdrop of VanDyke's youth.

The vigil will be led by city Councilman Bill Cole, a longtime family friend.

Sharon VanDyke retired in 2010 after 42 years as a Baltimore City teacher and principal.

Matthew VanDyke graduated from UMBC in 2002 with a degree in political science.