Search yields nothing; exhaustion sets in
By SOPHIA VORAVONG
svoravong@journalandcourier.com(By Michael Heinz/Journal & Courier)
Dale Steffey woke up at 4:30 a.m. Saturday, full of adrenaline and ready to search the Purdue University campus for a cell phone that authorities believe belongs to his missing son.
Twelve hours later, he appeared weary, yet he tried to stay optimistic -- though an extensive hunt by hundreds of volunteers in the afternoon turned up nothing.
"We are running out of steam now," Steffey said, referring to himself and his wife, Dawn Adams. "We're looking for the phone specifically. ... But the two are not necessarily together."
The Bloomington couple's only son, 19-year-old freshman Wade Steffey, went missing shortly after midnight Jan. 13, seemingly without a trace.
The corner of Tower Drive and North Intramural Drive, where he was last seen, is heavily traveled by both foot and car traffic at that hour.
"We need help. We need more avenues to investigate," Adams said, pleading with anyone out that night to call police -- even with details that may seem irrelevant.
"I'm at a loss. I have no idea what the scenario was for his disappearance," Adams said.
The Purdue University Police Department, which is leading the investigation, also wants to speak to anyone who was out between midnight and 3 a.m. Jan. 13 on the north end of campus.
Hundreds lend support
Nearly 300 people showed up to a student-organized vigil Saturday afternoon at Purdue's bell tower, praying for Wade Steffey's safe return. Among them were Purdue University President Martin Jischke and his wife, Patty.
Originally planned to last more than an hour, the vigil instead was cut to just a few minutes so those in attendance could help with the cell phone search.
Investigators hoped that finding the phone would give clues as to Steffey's whereabouts.
"He is a freshman like me," Purdue student Megan Lewis said. "I personally don't know him, but I feel a connection to him because of that.
"I feel it is an obligation and a responsibility to help search for him."
Investigators learned Friday that Steffey's Verizon-serviced cell phone had transmitted a signal until Jan. 17 from a triangular area roughly bounded by Russell Street, State Street and Northwestern Avenue.
They learned that the phone "pinged" at a cell phone tower Jan. 12 from an area that includes Phi Kappa Theta fraternity, where the aviation technology major was attending a party with friends.
The signal then shifted to the location where volunteers searched Saturday.
That included much of the academic campus, Ross-Ade Stadium, Mackey Arena, a construction site and Cary Quadrangle residence hall, where Steffey lived.
Volunteers dragged through trash receptacles and peered in and under bushes in Saturday's chilly weather, looking for Steffey's silver, flip-style phone.
University spokeswoman Jeanne Norberg said the search turned up some shoes, socks and cell phone parts -- but nothing definitely linked to Steffey, a National Merit scholar at Purdue on a full-ride scholarship.
His parents, meanwhile, have not ruled out any accidental possibilities for his disappearance, though they appear to suspect foul play.
Steffey's good friend, Megan Priest, attended the fraternity party with him and said he didn't appear impaired "in the least."
He did not have a car on campus or access to one.
"I know that he is not under his own control," Adams said of her son, both a track and cross country runner at Bloomington South High School and an Eagle Scout.
Added Dale Steffey, tears welling in his eyes: "It's hard to believe that someone can just disappear like this."
This situation is really weird - I really wonder what happened to the poor guy. I helped search, but it's really not looking good, and the police are at a loss for ideas. It amazes me that someone can disappear in this day and age.
