WAHPETON, N.D. – A search by foot patrols and an airplanes today failed to find any sign of a North Dakota State College of Science student who vanished early Thursday morning.
Andrew Sadek, 20, was last seen leaving Nordgaard Hall on the campus about 2 a.m. Thursday.
More than 50 officials, including law enforcement officers and firefighters, walked an area of the Red River from a mile south of town to a mile north of town and west to the city limits, but found no trace of Sadek.
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The foot patrols, which did not enter private property, included K-9 search and were joined by searchers riding all-terrain vehicles.
Two pilots also conducted an aerial search, covering an area five miles south of Wahpeton to five miles north of town.
“Our search turned up nothing,” Sgt. Steve Helgeson, who heads the NDSCS campus police, said today. “We’re really basically pleading for the public to help us.”
Tips received from the public so far have not produced any solid leads, Helgeson said, leaving investigators stymied.
People in the Wahpeton-Breckenridge area are asked to check their property, including outbuildings, for any anything unusual.
Sadek wore blue jeans, orange-and-black Nike tennis shoes, and a hooded black-and-red sweatshirt with the word “football” in white letters on the front. He carried a black-and-silver backpack.
A second-year student studying electrical technology, Sadek was last seen by a security camera leaving his dormitory, Nordgaard Hall. It isn’t known whether he continued on foot or got into a car.
Nothing seemed unusual about Sadek before his disappearance, said Harvey Link, NDSCS vice president for academic and student affairs.
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“We have no indication that he was troubled or unduly stressed or anything like that,” Link said.
Sadek has a cell phone, but the last activity was on campus, Helgeson said. There has been no activity on his checking account or credit cards, he said.
Similarly, no friends, roommates or family members have had any contact with Sadek since he went missing, Helgeson and Link said.
“It’s quite a mystery,” Link said.
Sadek, a Caucasian male, is 6 feet tall and weighs 175 pounds. He has curly brown hair and brown eyes.
Helgeson said he will meet with fellow law enforcement officers to determine next steps in the ongoing search for Sadek. Police and firefighters from Wahpeton and Breckenridge and the Richland and Wilkin county sheriff’s offices have been helping in the search.
Anyone with any information about Sadek or his whereabouts is asked to call the NDSCS campus police at (701) 671-2233.
