Topeka ? A registered sex offender who frequented public meetings here in recent years as a lobbyist for the homeless is missing.

David Patrick Owen’s father, from Cimarron, reported him missing Saturday, according to Topeka police. The father, Darrell Owen, had not spoken with his son since June 16.

Maj. Gary Herman said on Tuesday that police couldn’t say Owen was a victim of foul play but considered it unusual that he had gone days without contacting relatives or attending City Council meetings. Owen, 38, is a fixture at such meetings, as well as at the Statehouse.

Herman also said police were worried by reports Owen had confrontations with homeless people as they camped along the Kansas River. Owen frequently talked to them to urge them to contact their families.

Police searched Owen’s apartment and areas by the river and called Owen’s cell phone but found its signal to be off, Herman said.

Since 2002, Owen has been registered as a legislative lobbyist for his own group, Homeless Come Home.

In 1999, he was sentenced to four days in jail and 36 months probation in Sedgwick County on one count of sexual exploitation of a child, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. He has been registered as an offender since June 1999.

City Council member Sylvia Ortiz announced at Tuesday night’s meeting that Owen is missing.

“David, if you’re out there, please contact somebody,” she said.