About 40 volunteers, mostly students, gathered Tuesday to help find sophomore Harsha Maddula, who was last seen early Saturday. Christian Farr reports.
Northwestern University officials on Tuesday asked for the FBI's help in finding a student last seen leaving an off-campus party on Saturday morning.
Sophomore Harsha Maddula, 18, was last seen leaving the party in the 2000 block of Ridge Avenue, in Evanston, at about 12:30 a.m., the university said in a statement on its website. The party was about a mile away from his dorm room.
A review of closed-circuit video and electronic key records indicate he never returned to his residence hall, officials said.
Maddula is of Indian descent and stands 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weighs about 135 pounds. He has black hair and wears black-framed glasses.
He was last seen wearing a grey long-sleeved sweater with black and white stitching, dark grey pants and brown shoes, the website said. Madula lives in the campus’ Public Affairs Residential College in the 1800 block of Chicago Avenue in Evanston.
Maddula's family describes him as a straight-A student studying pre-med who has never vanished in the past. He recently was diagnosed with diabetes.
"They say he had a drink so that's one of my concerns. I don't know if maybe he got hurt and fell down somewhere," said his mother, Dhanalakshmi Maddula, who flew in with her husband from New York.
Family and friends have set up a Facebook page to share information.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call Northwestern University Police at 847-491-3254. Officials do not believe there there is any danger or threat to other members of the campus community.
The Statewide Terrorism and Intelligence center has been notified of the case, as has the Cook County Department of Emergency Management, officials said.
