Nicholas Francisco, a SeaTac man who disappeared more than a year ago while on his way home from work, has been found "alive and well" and living in another state under a new name, the King County Sheriff's Office announced today.

Francisco vanished after leaving his Queen Anne graphic-design job on Feb. 13, 2008.
Five days later, his red 1992 Toyota Paseo was found abandoned outside a Federal Way condominium complex, but sheriff's detectives found no indication that he'd been the victim of foul play and no evidence of his whereabouts.

As a result, investigators with the Sheriff's Office eventually put the case on the back burner, although detectives said they would keep it open until they could rule out any possible criminal connection. Sheriff's Sgt. James Laing said at the time that if Francisco did disappear on his own, there was nothing illegal about it.

His wife, Christine Francisco, who initially said she believed her husband had been murdered, launched a massive public appeal on TV and on the Internet pleading for information right after he went missing. But she eventually filed for divorce.

Last week, detectives developed information that he was in fact alive, had changed his name and was living outside of Washington.

The Sheriff's Office has closed its investigation.