'Doofy' teenager loses car for three days - and parents find it after online appeal

An absent-minded teenager has been reunited with his car three days after forgetting where he had parked it.

Gavin Strickland's vehicle was eventually found after his parents posted an online appeal for help in tracing the car of their "doofy son".

The 19-year-old from Syracuse, New York State, had made the 250-mile journey to Toronto to see Metallica play on Sunday night.

However, at the end of the heavy metal concert, he could not remember where he had parked his blue-green Nissan Verda sedan.

He then spent a fruitless night walking around the Canadian city trying to find the garage where he had left his car.

"At first I was like, 'I just forgot where I parked. It's not a big deal.' Eventually I started thinking . . . I may never see my car again," he told CTV News Channel.

He finally admitted defeat and called his parents in Syracuse.

His father, Eric, said: "He just really kind of screwed up going into a big city not knowing what to do."

After reporting the vehicle missing to Toronto police, Gavin's parents decided to make a public appeal on the classifieds website Craigslist.

Along with a picture of the car, the post said: "Our doofy son parked the car in an indoor parking garage, in the first floor (slightly lower/basement level) but that garage cannot now be located.

"Please respond with photos of the car and specific location instructions to claim the reward."

According to the advert, the only nearby landmarks Strickland could recall were a Starbucks, a building site, possibly a bank and a "strange spiral outdoor structure".

Fortunately, Toronto resident Madison Riddolls responded to his plight and set out to search for the car, which she found shortly after midnight on Thursday.

After receiving the good news, Gavin got on the bus back to Toronto to pick up his vehicle, amid a blaze of publicity, rounding off an ordeal he called "one big oops".

He gave Ms Riddolls a $100 reward and a $100 donation for a charity of her choice.

She presented him with a map of Toronto for his next visit.