SCOTIA — Whenever you ask locals about Craig Frear, the phrase, "he just vanished," tends to come up in some shape or form. His disappearance 15 years ago remains one of the greatest, and most painful, mysteries in this a village of 7,700 people.

Frear hasn't been seen or heard from since June 27, 2004 — the day the 17-year-old soccer player left his car and walked into the woods behind a friend's apartment in the Cambridge Manor apartment complex.

Frear had just gotten off the phone with his mom, who asked him to come home after learning that he hadn't shown up to his Price Chopper job for a few weeks. As that call ended, Frear's dad arrived at the complex and saw the teen's car parked outside.

Frear didn't have much cash on him and his Social Security number has never been used. His family and friends had no reason to believe he'd take his own life or run away, though police haven't been able to rule anything out. An accident or foul play are also among many working theories.

"Any time you have a missing person case, until you find the person you can't say the circumstances of the disappearance," State Police Major Crimes Investigator Kevin Noto said this week. "This is one where we are keeping our options open."

Dozens of State Police investigators and troopers have been involved in the case over the years. Scotia police investigated the case for two years before turning it over to the State Police in 2006. Investigator Gloria Coppola led the case until her 2015 retirement, when Noto took over.

The Frear family asked for privacy ahead of the 15-year anniversary. His mother spoke to the Times Union in 2016, ahead of Craig's 30th birthday.

"All the time, I think about it: What would he be doing?" she said at the time. "The worst part is, for all of us, for his family, is we just miss him. Horribly."

Veronica Frear also said she strongly believes "there is somebody out there who knows what happened to my son ... I'm on my knees, hoping there's someone out there who can help us."

Police are also praying for that tipster to come forward.

"People may have information they don't think is important but oftentimes it is the little things in these cases that are the keys that open up that door," Noto said, adding that other people may have told police something early on in the investigation but it's possible the tip was never passed on to the right person.

Noto asked anyone with information to call him directly at 518-783-3296.

"Until you have something to work off of, you really don't know what kind of case you're dealing with. In some ways, missing persons cases can be more difficult than a cold-case homicide, because (with a homicide) you know what kind of case you are working," Noto said.

A group of Scotia and Glenville residents organized a candlelight vigil for Thursday evening, in the hopes that public attention jogs people's memories and coaxes someone forward with a useful tip.

Police have conducted 68 different searches for Frear over the years, usually in early spring or late fall when there is the least amount of snow and brush on the ground.

Investigators have sent troopers and police dogs out on foot to search the route Frear would have taken home, places he was known to frequent and the woods behind Cambridge Manor. They've also used State Police divers and boats to examine local waterways.

Nothing of note has ever been found, Noto said.

Former Times Union sports editor Pete Iorizzo, who wrote about Frear's disappearance for years, said the story left an indelible mark on him. Iorizzo recently recalled that, when he first learned of the case, he thought, "Wow, how does a 17-year-old popular, about-to-be captain of his soccer team disappear off the face of the earth?"

Frear's disappearance is still the first thing Iorizzo and his wife think about each time they drive through Scotia. Iorizzo — who is now a spokesman for the University at Albany athletics program — didn't have children when he first started reporting on the case. Years later, he has two young kids.

"You can't imagine not knowing where your child is for five minutes. But for 15 years, not knowing?" Iorizzo said, trailing off at just the thought of it.