Man Missing 5 Weeks After Internet Blind Date

WEST ISLIP, N.Y. (CBS2/1010 WINS) -- A Long Island couple is looking for help to find their missing son, who left for a blind date with a woman he met on a social dating website.

Michael Taus, 24, of West Islip and his dog Romeo went missing June 18 and his parents are heartbroken and frantically seeking their son.

AUDIO: Sonia Rincon reports

"I can't describe how bad I feel," Taus' mother Barbara told CBS 2 HD. "I feel sadder than I've ever felt in my whole life."

Taus' parents said their son had been on several social networking sites during the third week of June.

Barbara Taus, spoke with 1010 WINS reporter Sonia Rincon about her 25 year-old son Michael, who had recently begun dating online.

"I always used to tease him whenever he was going out on a date with a girl from Match.com," said Taus.

"I'd say 'tell me where you're going to be so I know if they ever kidnap you. He used to laugh, and I said, 'Michael you never know, these things happen"

Cops found Taus' car about a week later, near Elmont with the engine running.

Barbara says her son has never gone anywhere for this long without telling her.

"If he wants to stay away," said Barbara, "that's fine, but just call me and tell me that you're not coming home ever again. I want to know he's again."

The Taus family asks anyone with information is asked to call 800 220 TIPS.

Taus' father, Russel, recounted a conversation he had with his son about the date before he went missing.

"He seemed happy," Russel Taus said. "I told him to be careful because he met this girl on the computer."

However, Michael Taus never returned to his West Islip apartment after his internet date. Another perplexing element to this case is that his dog and the dog's water and food bowls were also missing from the apartment.

Six days after he went missing, police discovered Michael Taus' 2004 black Jetta abandoned with the engine running 30 miles away from his home in Elmont.

Inspector Gerard McCarthy said police have done a forensic examination of the vehicle.

"There is nothing to indicate that the vehicle was part of a violent scene," McCarthy said. "He seems to have fallen off the face of the earth."

Authorities said they are mystified about how the man went missing and are reaching out to law enforcement across the county.

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