A Maryland man who went missing as a teenager might have been fearing reprisals from gang members when he disappeared. Authorities have been looking for William W. Brooks Jr., who would now be 35 years old, since he went missing in August 1992.

Brooks, then 17, might have had some disagreements with gang members and could have been fearing repercussions, said Melinda Stevens, director of the missing children division of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.