IT Student Who Developed West Sumatra Provincial Government App Missing Since 2025

An informatics student at Andalas University (Unand) in Padang, known for his academic achievements and for creating applications for employees and regional apparatus organisations (OPD) within the West Sumatra (Sumbar) provincial government, has been mysteriously missing since November 2025. His family and the university are still searching for him. The student’s mother, Ade Melriza (47), recounted that Ryan left home at around 2:00 a.m. WIB on 17 November 2025. Ade only realised her son had left the house later that morning. ‘I found out Ryan had left the house at dawn. When I woke up, I saw the front door was unlocked. I thought his father had gone out to take out the rubbish. But when I went to wake his sibling, Ryan was no longer in his room,’ Ade Melriza told reporters on Tuesday (14/7). Ade asked all family members about her son’s whereabouts, but no one knew. ‘I asked everyone in the house, his two siblings and his father. They also did not know because Ryan did not tell anyone where he was going. His sibling only knew that Ryan had taken a shower that night, and after that, no one knew where he went,’ she said. Sensing a bad premonition, Ade then tried to find clues about her son’s location. However, she only found his laptop, mobile phone, wallet containing money, and identity card still on his bedroom table. When several areas in West Sumatra—and parts of Sumatra Island from North Sumatra to Aceh—were hit by flash floods in November 2025, Ryan’s parents feared their son might have been one of the victims. They subsequently visited Bhayangkara Hospital and submitted DNA samples for victim identification from the flash floods. ‘At that time, I wanted to confirm whether my child was a disaster victim. I left my DNA at Bhayangkara Hospital, but the results showed no match,’ Ade said. She now hopes her son can be found soon. The university has reportedly also attempted to search, but so far he has not been located. Aside from being known as an academically outstanding student, Ryan also possessed above-average skills in information technology. The 2022 cohort student at Unand even created a special application for employees and OPDs within the West Sumatra provincial government. This was confirmed by Unand Secretary, Aidinil Zetra. ‘Ryan is not only academically accomplished but also very creative. He has abilities that even surpass his peers,’ he explained to reporters. ‘One example is when he developed a public service application for the regional government, and the results were very satisfactory. From the documents we have gathered, Ryan also received many awards, including from the government,’ Aidinil added.