Tyler Bojanowski disappeared after recovering from a brain injury

(NewsNation) — After what seemed like a miracle recovery, a man with a severe brain injury disappeared following a car crash. When 25-year-old Tyler Bojanowski suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car crash last October, his family thought they'd lost him. "They actually told me that, don't be surprised, he's never going to be the same again, according to the MRI," said Nicole Dillon, Bojanowski's mother. Bojanowski had always been extremely close with his family, a playful, loving presence with his little brothers and a loving relationship with his stepfather, Earl Dillon. After Bojanowski's accident, Nicole Dillon paused her job to become his full-time caregiver. Then, in early 2026, Bojanowski surprised everyone with rapid improvement. "He was back to himself, he got cleared to drive and he was happy," Dillon said. Bojanowski was looking forward to getting back to work. "I taught him the trade I do, which is working on semitrucks and trailers," Earl Dillon said. "We could just converse all day long about trailers and trailer repair and work." Bojanowski had gotten the good news that his job was waiting for him. "He was eager to get back to work, too," said his friend, Cameron Cade. "It was driving him crazy sitting at home all day." It all seemed to be going well until the early morning of Feb. 5, 2026. Bojanowski had gone out the night before and stopped where Cade was bartending. "He was talking to me, hanging out. We had other friends there, we were all hanging out," Cade said. "When he was leaving, he just said, 'All right man, I'm gonna head home and I'll see you later,' and he gave me a hug and that was it." But Bojanowski never made it home. His pickup truck was discovered on a side street in Allen Park, Michigan, after he apparently hit a guardrail around 2:30 in the morning. There was no sign of Bojanowski. "We were able to get surveillance footage of the truck kind of coming into frame and the front tire was blown out," Nicole Dillon said. "It stops and then he just opens the door and walks out of the truck." Bojanowski's wallet, phone and glasses were left behind. His family wonders if the impact from the accident could have reinjured him, leaving him to wander away, disoriented. "I'm thinking maybe when the airbags went off, maybe (it) reinjured his brain and he's out of it," Earl Dillon said. "Like from his first injury, where he was really confused." The only clue came later that day, when Bojanowski's passport was found five miles away at Dingell Park in Ecorse. That raises the question of whether Bojanowski could have walked that distance in 19-degree temperatures. Security footage from 6:30 in the morning added another puzzle piece. "The detective had me come in and ID the person walking through the gas station and across the street to the park and it was Tyler," Nicole Dillon said. But there were no other cameras to show what happened after that. The passport was under a bench in the park's gazebo, which overlooks the water. That has led some to suggest that Bojanowski felt lost and hopeless and took his own life in the river. But Dillon doesn't buy that theory. "He tried to walk home, he knew the way home, and I just don't see him walking for hours in the cold and then jumping into the Detroit River," she said. Bojanowski's stepfather agrees. "I know that in my heart, I feel he would never do that," Earl Dillon said. The family has organized multiple searches of the park, the waterfront and along the route Bojanowski would have walked home. They've even checked local homeless shelters and mental health facilities, in case he was admitted as a John Doe. "We went to hospitals, all the hospitals, to try to reach out, to any kind of business that may be open 24 hours that he may stop there to get warm," Dillon said. The family has considered other possibilities as well. "Maybe somebody pulled up, maybe somebody offered him a ride and something bad happened," Nicole Dillon said. Bojanowski's absence has weighed heavily on them, especially at his brother's 14th birthday, which provided only brief distraction. "When we got home, it just hits you," Dillon said. "It's so hard knowing that Tyler's not here, that he's out there somewhere." Bojanowski's family hopes someone will recognize him without his glasses and call in with the tip they've been waiting for. If he is out there, they have a message. "Tyler, if you do see this, I wish and pray that you would come home to us," Earl Dillon said. Bojanowski's family is offering a $9,000 reward for information to help bring him home. Bojanowski has reddish-blond hair and blue eyes. He is 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 200 pounds. He was wearing a black, hooded New Balance sweatshirt, blue Dickies pants and black Vans sneakers the night he disappeared. Anyone with information about Bojanowski's whereabouts should call the Wyandotte police at (734) 324-4405.