ROGERS PARK — After missing for six days, Michael Harding returned home Thursday morning, friends said.
The 32-year-old had worried his friends and family, who didn't hear from him when he disappeared without a trace after leaving work Friday night, they said.
But now Harding "made the responsible decision" and is back at home in Rogers Park, said Dillon Lacina, 23, who had let Harding stay in his one-bedroom apartment this month while he hunted for an apartment.
It's unclear why Harding didn't return phone calls or respond to social media during the time he was gone, but Lacina said Harding had recently broken up with a boyfriend.
Lacina and other friends had said they lost touch with him after he was last seen Friday night leaving a River North Starbucks where he worked
Lacina said he was "sick with worry and sadness" before Harding turned up at the apartment Thursday morning.
Word began to spread via social media Wednesday that Lacina was missing.
Rebecca Rivera and her boyfriend, Robert Jacobi, said they were in Harding's close group of friends.
Rivera enlisted the help of Ald. Harry Osterman (48th), who distributed a notice through his ward's Facebook page and helped them file a missing person report with the Rogers Park Police District.
Rivera also printed missing person flyers in hopes of finding clues to where Harding might be.
"The whole time I knew Michael he never missed a day of work," Rivera said Wednesday. "He’s extremely responsible — to not contact anyone is even more out of character."
