2008 Woodie Awards
Police locate missing Miami student
Sophomore disappears for 4 days, officials discover male in Santa Fe
Caroline Briggs
Issue date: 11/30/07 Section: Community
Miami University sophomore Adam Fout was located in Santa Fe, N.M. Saturday, Nov. 17 after his parents reported him missing to Oxford Police earlier that week.
Fout's mother alerted police at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 16 that her son had not appeared in classes or at work that day. Fout's roommate told police that he had not seen Fout since Nov. 12, according to the reports.
Sgt. Jim Squance of the Oxford Police Department (OPD) said after Fout's mother placed the report, OPD alerted the Law Enforcement Automated Data System (LEADS) across police agencies in the U.S. Squance also said Fout's credit card was tracked at the same time.
"It was through the credit card that we actually located where he'd been," Squance said.
Fout reportedly used his card in Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado and finally at a hotel in Santa Fe. Local police reportedly found Fout at the hotel in good condition with no illegal activity to report. Squance said after police located Fout, his father flew to New Mexico to pick him up.
Squance said a search for a missing person in Oxford has never been carried out this far before without any indication of foul play.
"We've never really tracked any student to this extent before without any sign of foul play," Squance said.
Squance said most cases involving missing persons with police
typically concern people under 18 years of age, people with medical conditions or in cases where evidence of foul play exists.
Fout, 20, did not fit these qualification of a missing person, but Squance said that the credit card usage in other states were grounds for investigation.
Friday, Nov. 16, fliers alerting the Oxford community of Fout's disappearance with his picture were distributed on cars and boards by Fout's parents, but Squance said police located Fout the next day in Santa Fe based on his credit card trail.
Squance said that Fout apparently left because of personal problems he was dealing with at the time of his departure, and he was looking at job options out West.
Fout's mother alerted police at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 16 that her son had not appeared in classes or at work that day. Fout's roommate told police that he had not seen Fout since Nov. 12, according to the reports.
Sgt. Jim Squance of the Oxford Police Department (OPD) said after Fout's mother placed the report, OPD alerted the Law Enforcement Automated Data System (LEADS) across police agencies in the U.S. Squance also said Fout's credit card was tracked at the same time.
"It was through the credit card that we actually located where he'd been," Squance said.
Fout reportedly used his card in Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado and finally at a hotel in Santa Fe. Local police reportedly found Fout at the hotel in good condition with no illegal activity to report. Squance said after police located Fout, his father flew to New Mexico to pick him up.
Squance said a search for a missing person in Oxford has never been carried out this far before without any indication of foul play.
"We've never really tracked any student to this extent before without any sign of foul play," Squance said.
Squance said most cases involving missing persons with police
typically concern people under 18 years of age, people with medical conditions or in cases where evidence of foul play exists.
Fout, 20, did not fit these qualification of a missing person, but Squance said that the credit card usage in other states were grounds for investigation.
Friday, Nov. 16, fliers alerting the Oxford community of Fout's disappearance with his picture were distributed on cars and boards by Fout's parents, but Squance said police located Fout the next day in Santa Fe based on his credit card trail.
Squance said that Fout apparently left because of personal problems he was dealing with at the time of his departure, and he was looking at job options out West.
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