MORELIA, Mexico (AP) — Police are investigating the disappearance of a U.S. man traveling across Latin America by motorcycle who went missing after visiting a friend in Mexico’s western state of Michoacan, where rural vigilantes are battling a cult-like drug cartel, authorities said Monday.

Officials began investigating Harry Devert’s disappearance Wednesday, when a Mexican friend reported him missing, said Magdalena Guzman Rosas, a spokeswoman for Michoacan state prosecutors.