A former Vicksburg resident who was reported missing following a catastrophic earthquake in Nepal says in an online posting that he is safe.

Kevin Cason, 38, was living in Vicksburg before he left in 2012 for a five-year commitment at Rangjung Yeshe Institute, a Buddhist university in Katmandu, Nepal. He told friends he planned to return to Vicksburg after his stint at the college.

“Lots of messages, but I can’t even get hem to load or even see the names, much less respond. I am okay, and thanks for the concern. When connectivity normalizes, I will respond to you all individually,” Cason said in a posting to his Facebook page.

Cason, who is a practicing Buddhist, was among 123 Americans listed as missing the Red Cross following a 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Saturday and is known to have killed more than 5,000 people.

“If any of you want to help, Tashi Boarding School can use donations. The children are sleeping on top of one another outside in the rain,” Cason wrote.

Local friends said they were excited to hear Cason had survived the quake.

“Oh fantastic, I’m so glad to hear that,” said Jim Miller, a friend of Cason’s who directed him in Westside Theatre Foundation’s production of “The Foreigner.”

Cason’s Facebook page lists him as working as a librarian at the university.

Daniel Boone, owner of Highway 61 Coffee on Washington Street said Cason was a regular at the shop, and he’s set up a Google people finder page seeking information about Cason. As of Thursday, there had been no reports of Cason’s whereabouts on the site. His Facebook post was made at about midnight local time. Messages sent to Cason and one of his colleagues at the university were not returned Thursday.

It is unclear how long Cason lived in Vicksburg. He is a native of Forney, Texas, which is part of the Dallas metropolitan area.

When Cason moved to Vicksburg, his wife at the time was working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, his friend Jack Burns said. Burns also met Cason through the production of “The Foreigner.”

Cason and his wife, Megan, divorced while living in Vicksburg, and Cason was relatively quiet about his personal life, friends said.

An attempt to reach Cason’s ex-wife Wednesday was unsuccessful.

Performing in “The Foreigner” seemed to help Cason after his divorce, Burns said.

“Everyone really, really got along with him great. It was a transformative experience for him. This was a guy who had been relatively shy and reserved and not really much of an outgoing person. He really bonded with the rest of the cast,” Burns said.

Miller said Cason played the lead roll in the play after an actor dropped out of the production. Cason’s part turned what would have been a lackluster show into a “masterpiece,” Miller said.

“We do a cast bio for each play. In his he said he was going to Katmandu to study eastern culture, and everybody laughed at him and said ‘Yeah, right, you’re going to get a job at McDonalds,’ and he really left for Katmandu,” Miller said.