I seem to be having the exact same issue, except the guy isn't there. Ive talked to his gf and she has confirmed his is indeed still missing, yet he isn't where everyones telling me he should be. I have done the renovations and would hate to wait until chapter 17 for a fix on this to be released or worse to haft to restart completely just to get one sticker.
Sidenote I keep trying to get the one in spindle town aswell, but the rain seems to never stop. Is there a better way, or is my bad luck just forever dooming me to miss the event trigger on that one?