Engineering student Furqan Muhammad-Haroon was allegedly kidnapped in Scarborough on Aug. 22. (Toronto Police Photo)

A Toronto man who disappeared mysteriously in a reported abduction on Aug. 22 has been found and is now charged with public mischief.

Toronto police said Tuesday evening they located Furqan Muhammad-Haroon, 22, in St. Catharines, Ont. He is due to appear Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET in a Toronto court.

Muhammad-Haroon called a friend at about 3:30 p.m. ET on Aug. 22 while driving a green Mazda MPV near Midwest Road and Midland Avenue in Scarborough to say he was being followed.

Police had initially said three men, one with a gun, forced Muhammad-Haroon's car off the road. But no one had reported seeing anything unusual near the intersection at the time of the abduction.

Police said they now cannot corroborate the earlier account.

"We have no evidence to suggest that took place," said Toronto police spokeswoman Const. Wendy Drummond Tuesday. The case is no longer being treated as an abduction.

The Saturday call to his friend was the last time anyone heard from the University of Toronto electrical engineering student.

Muhammad-Haroon was on his way to the airport to take a trip overseas and had withdrawn about $2,000 from a bank account.

Faced with theft charge

In another wrinkle to the case, Muhammad-Haroon was recently fired from his summer job with IBM, arrested and charged with theft under $5,000. He was allegedly caught with a recycling bin filled with IBM hard drives and other computer equipment.

Police did not say whether his disappearance is in any way connected with the theft charges. He is scheduled to appear in court in Newmarket on Sept. 15.

Muhammad-Haroon's parents flew to Toronto from Dubai and begged for his safe return at a news conference on Monday.

"Please come forward if you know anything about my boy, my son," said the man's father, Haroon Muhammad. "Please help us. We want him back."