The family of missing autistic man Damien Ezzy say they fear for his life as police step up the search for the 34-year-old who went missing on Thursday.
Mr Ezzy was last seen at his Calwell unit at midnight on Thursday and was reported missing after one of his carers found his bed empty shortly before 9am.
On Friday, ACT Policing joined with AFP Search and Rescue and the ACT State Emergency Service to search the Tuggeranong area for Mr Ezzy, as they had serious concerns for his welfare, as he requires medication.
Authorities were still searching for Mr Ezzy on Friday afternoon, focussing on the suburbs of Chisholm, Gordon, Isabella Plains, Calwell, Richardson, Gilmore and Macarthur, but also urging all Canberrans to be on the lookout.
His aunt Vida Thomson says Mr Ezzy also has mental health issues, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and anxiety..
"If someone has picked up on his vulnerability and got a hold of him, he doesn't have any cash or credit cards with him and if he fell in the wrong hands he could come to extreme harm," an emotional Ms Thomson said.
"He would absolutely put trust in someone he doesn't know. We just want him home."
Ms Thomson and Mr Ezzy's sister, Melissa, said police were looking into a possible sighting of him wandering around aimlessly near the Chisholm Tavern on Thursday afternoon.
"He was supposedly seen around the BP area near the shops and sort of walking around around 5pm according to about four different people at the tavern," Melissa Ezzy said.
"I provided pictures and they all possibly identified it was him, and they said his description matched that on the ACT Policing site."
She said police contacted them in the evening to say they were investigating the sighting but have not confirmed it.
Mr Ezzy was under 24-hour care until he moved into ACT Housing earlier this year where he receives part-time disability support.
The family said CCTV footage captured Mr Ezzy buying a flask of vodka at an alcohol store in Calwell shops on Wednesday evening at about 7pm - a move they say was out of character for him.
They sent the Canberra Times a snapshot of the CCTV footage showing him hold a green Woolworths bag which they believe contained vodka.
Melissa Ezzy said that while her brother was often seen between 5pm and 10pm buying icecream or pizza at the Calwell shops, he rarely touches alcohol and if he does drink, it is beer.
On Wednesday night, Mr Ezzy was unsupervised between 5pm and 10pm, until one of his carers began his shift at the unit to find him happier than usual.
It is believed the carer put Mr Ezzy to bed at midnight and did not check on him when he left at 6am because his bedroom door was shut.
The vodka was nowhere to be found by either that carer or the one who discovered him missing at 9am, Ms Thomson said.
"None of it makes sense," Melissa Ezzy said.
"Autistic people usually walk around in circles and are found pretty quickly. I've also never known him to drink spirits, and so he wouldn't go and buy vodka and come home and dump his phone and wallet and leave."
"It seems like he has paired up with somebody... but we just don't know."
A police spokeswoman said they held "serious concerns" for Mr Ezzy's welfare and were searching in Chisholm, Gilmore, Macarthur, Richardson, Isabella Plains, Calwell and Gordon.
The family stress that while Mr Ezzy struggles socially, he is verbal and will recognise if someone calls out his name.
Damien Ezzy is described as Caucasian, 193cm (6'4") tall, slim, with medium length dark hair. He may be wearing a grey hooded jumper with a white logo and denim jeans.
Anyone who may have seen Damien, or has any information on his whereabouts, should call police on 131 444.