Crews Get New Help In Search For Missing Student

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Officers from several agencies have joined in the search for a Purdue University freshman who has been missing since Jan. 13.

Wade Steffey, 19, of Bloomington, hasn't been seen or heard from since he left a fraternity party.

Officers from Lafayette, West Lafayette, Tippecanoe County and Indiana State Police are assisting Purdue police in the search for Steffey.

On Monday, a former FBI agent and a profiler for the agency also joined the investigation..

Steffey's information has also been added to a database for the National Center for Missing Adults.

Police will again use sonar equipment to check nearby waterways for signs of the missing man.

About 700 people took part in two searches in the area of campus in which Steffey was last seen.

Searchers on Saturday were unable to turn up the cell phone Steffey used the night he vanished, which had been traced to the vicinity of the Purdue campus before its signal died Jan. 17.

Police said they do not believe Steffey was intoxicated the night he disappeared. A $50 withdrawal was made from his bank account at a campus ATM at about 8:30 p.m. Jan. 12, and his cell phone was last used about four hours later, police said.

Police were first told of Steffey's disappearance on Jan. 16, when classes resumed after a three-day weekend.

Steffey is white with short brown hair and brown eyes, 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighs about 150 pounds.

Purdue Police Department at 765-494-8221 or the anonymous tip line at 765-496-3784.

A reward fund has been established for information that leads to Steffey's whereabouts. Donations to the Wade Steffey Reward Fund can be made at any central Indiana Fifth Third Bank.