Engineer missing for a month in Noginsk after New Year's party
Volunteers detailed the search for a 24-year-old engineer who vanished under mysterious circumstances in the Moscow Region.
In Noginsk, Moscow Region, a 24-year-old engineer from the water filter company Barrier named Vadim Rachkov has been missing for nearly a month since late last year. On 29 December, he celebrated the New Year with colleagues. After the party, he sent everyone home in taxis but said he would walk home himself.
Vadim has been missing for nearly a month as search teams comb the area.
Rachkov«s mother told MSK1.RU that shortly before his disappearance, her son made sure those he celebrated with got home safely, but for some reason refused to order a car for himself. He then headed towards a holiday village (dachny poselok), where, according to camera footage, he got lost. His mother said a Noginsk resident later reported seeing her son at a bus stop.
The footage shows the last known sighting of the missing engineer before he disappeared.
Volunteers and concerned citizens have conducted several searches for Vadim, but without success. The engineer«s trail goes cold near the Parovoz cafe — where locals reported seeing him again.
The video shows how volunteers conducted the search for engineer Vadim Rachkov.
The LizaAlert volunteer search and rescue team (DPSO LizaAlert) showed MSK1.RU how the search for Vadim Rachkov in the Moscow Region was conducted.
«A request to search for Vadim Rachkov was submitted to the DPSO LizaAlert on 1 January 2026. The search is being conducted in autonomous mode, with all volunteers receiving tasks remotely from the information coordinator and coordinator. The search covers urban and natural environments; we continue to check medical facilities, post flyers in the search area, and volunteers are interviewing witnesses. To date, foot patrols have covered over 230 kilometers,» the LizaAlert press service said.
According to LizaAlert representatives, their only lead is CCTV footage which helped volunteers trace the missing engineer«s route.
«The search involves the Investigative Committee (SK), the Interior Ministry (MVD), the National Guard (Rosgvardiya), LizaAlert volunteers and canine teams, the missing man»s relatives, and local residents,« the team added.
After almost a month of searching, Vadim«s mother appealed for help to the head of Russia»s Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin. Investigators have opened a criminal case regarding the engineer«s disappearance (typically, in such cases, a case is initiated under Article 105 of the Russian Criminal Code, murder, to give investigators broader powers during searches. — Ed.).
«Numerous appeals by the mother to the competent authorities, as well as volunteer search efforts, have yielded no results; his whereabouts remain unknown to this day. Implementation of the assignment is under control at the department»s central office,« the department»s press service added.
Earlier we reported that an entrepreneur went missing in Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region — she has not been found for almost a month.
