A clinical lab sciences senior has turned up missing at the university where I teach. As a bio/psych prof I ran into her in the hallways every now and then- she wasn't my student. Then again, as faculty, we care about all our students. She is NOT the kind of girl to just take off. She went missing last Thursday, her parents and friends reported her missing Fri/Sat, but our local police response was "college kids will be college kids".....yesterday they got around to searching her apartment and surrounding area. It is now considered a criminal matter.
Please keep this student in your prayers. She and her family have worked so hard to get her where she is today....but it is not looking good.
http://www.pantagraph.com/stories/102005/new_20051020036.shtml
Crime likely in disappearance: Police find items belonging to missing student
By Greg Cima
gcima@pantagraph.com
NORMAL -- Police said they suspect criminal activity in the disappearance of an Illinois State University senior, but declined to give specifics Wednesday.
Olamide Adeyooye, 21, a student from the Chicago suburb of Berkeley, was last seen Oct. 13. Her car and comforter also were missing, and her family reported her missing Saturday.
"Based on our investigation we've done so far, we believe that a crime probably occurred," said Normal Lt. David Warner, who later added police do not have evidence the woman was abducted.
Normal Police used planes, dogs and help from state and federal law enforcement in the search for Adeyooye.
Police said Wednesday a member of a search team found items belonging to her in the area of a parking lot at the corner where Kern Street turns into Kingsley Street.
"I can't go into specifics of what personal items, but they were her personal items," said Normal Lt. Mark Kotte.
FBI Supervisory Special Agent Marshall Stone said agents from the bureau's Champaign office joined the search for Adeyooye.
The FBI also can offer laboratory and behavioral science services, he said, and could reach beyond local jurisdictions to expand the search.
Adeyooye's longtime friend Samantha Troha stood with friends, her father and Emergency Services and Disaster Agency workers Wednesday morning just outside yellow police tape surrounding the parking lot at Kern and Kingsley streets.
"We have no new information, no new leads, nothing," Troha said. "The car is our biggest concern right now. We can't stress how much we need to find the car."
Troha said Adeyooye's family members are hopeful and praying her missing friend will return safely.
Kotte said investigators are constantly receiving new leads and new information, and they are still piecing together what happened.
"There's so much information coming in right now that we meet several times a day to get everybody on board so everybody knows what's going on," Kotte said.
An Illinois State Police airplane also searched for Adeyooye's car in rural areas around the Twin Cities, Kotte said. And police dogs were used in the search, starting in the area round Adeyooye's apartment at 907 Market St. in Normal, he said.
Officers also searched Sugar Creek, the banks of which are visible from Adeyooye's apartment complex, Kotte said.
The windows of Adeyooye's apartment at were covered with plywood Wednesday, and police, members of the state's attorney's office and a woman who said she was with the FBI walked in and around the apartment Wednesday afternoon.
Kotte said interviews and numerous pieces of evidence recovered from the apartment and area led police to acknowledge the disappearance was likely a criminal matter.
"We moved it from a missing person to a criminal investigation, and that's all really I can comment on right now," Kotte said.
Please keep this student in your prayers. She and her family have worked so hard to get her where she is today....but it is not looking good.
http://www.pantagraph.com/stories/102005/new_20051020036.shtml
Crime likely in disappearance: Police find items belonging to missing student
By Greg Cima
gcima@pantagraph.com
NORMAL -- Police said they suspect criminal activity in the disappearance of an Illinois State University senior, but declined to give specifics Wednesday.
Olamide Adeyooye, 21, a student from the Chicago suburb of Berkeley, was last seen Oct. 13. Her car and comforter also were missing, and her family reported her missing Saturday.
"Based on our investigation we've done so far, we believe that a crime probably occurred," said Normal Lt. David Warner, who later added police do not have evidence the woman was abducted.
Normal Police used planes, dogs and help from state and federal law enforcement in the search for Adeyooye.
Police said Wednesday a member of a search team found items belonging to her in the area of a parking lot at the corner where Kern Street turns into Kingsley Street.
"I can't go into specifics of what personal items, but they were her personal items," said Normal Lt. Mark Kotte.
FBI Supervisory Special Agent Marshall Stone said agents from the bureau's Champaign office joined the search for Adeyooye.
The FBI also can offer laboratory and behavioral science services, he said, and could reach beyond local jurisdictions to expand the search.
Adeyooye's longtime friend Samantha Troha stood with friends, her father and Emergency Services and Disaster Agency workers Wednesday morning just outside yellow police tape surrounding the parking lot at Kern and Kingsley streets.
"We have no new information, no new leads, nothing," Troha said. "The car is our biggest concern right now. We can't stress how much we need to find the car."
Troha said Adeyooye's family members are hopeful and praying her missing friend will return safely.
Kotte said investigators are constantly receiving new leads and new information, and they are still piecing together what happened.
"There's so much information coming in right now that we meet several times a day to get everybody on board so everybody knows what's going on," Kotte said.
An Illinois State Police airplane also searched for Adeyooye's car in rural areas around the Twin Cities, Kotte said. And police dogs were used in the search, starting in the area round Adeyooye's apartment at 907 Market St. in Normal, he said.
Officers also searched Sugar Creek, the banks of which are visible from Adeyooye's apartment complex, Kotte said.
The windows of Adeyooye's apartment at were covered with plywood Wednesday, and police, members of the state's attorney's office and a woman who said she was with the FBI walked in and around the apartment Wednesday afternoon.
Kotte said interviews and numerous pieces of evidence recovered from the apartment and area led police to acknowledge the disappearance was likely a criminal matter.
"We moved it from a missing person to a criminal investigation, and that's all really I can comment on right now," Kotte said.
They reported they're speaking with persons of interest but couldn't go into detail. 
