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23 year old Stanford University graduate student, Mengyao Zhou, has been missing since Saturday, January 20, 2007. Zhou was last seen at her place of residence at Stanford’s graduate-student housing complex about 10:30 AM Saturday. Zhou went to run errands and has not been seen or heard from since.
Poster of Mengyao “May” Zhou
Description:
- Zhou is described as Asian
- 5 feet, 5 inches tall
- about 120 pounds
- She was driving a silver four-door 2006 Toyota Corolla with California license plate 5VFG430. (Mercury News)
She has not called or e-mailed any friends or relatives since the weekend, Bates said, noting there is no obvious reason for her disappearance.
If anyone has any information regarding the whereabouts of Zhou or her vehicle please contact Stanford police at (650) 723-9633; (650) 329-2413 after normal business hours.
UPDATE I: $25,000 reward offered for tips leading to the where abouts of Mengyao Zhou
UPDATE II: May Zhou’s body found in the trunk of her car. Police are suspecting it was a suicide; however, no official report has been made. The police reference items found in the vehicle that were consistent with suicide. One would speculate a possible bottle of pills; however, no details were provided. If so, how sad a situation that May felt the need to end her life. May she rest in peace.
The body found inside the trunk of a car at Santa Rosa Junior College this morning is that of Mengyao “May” Zhou, according to Santa Rosa police. Additionally, items found in the trunk of a car owned by the missing 23-year-old Stanford University graduate student “indicate the subject may have committed suicide,” according to Santa Rosa police Sgt. Lisa Banayat.
An autopsy is scheduled for Friday, according to the Sonoma County coroner’s office. Santa Rosa Police Lt. Ed Hemphill confirmed this morning that Zhou’s car was found about 7 a.m. (Thursday) with a body in its trunk, parked at the junior college’s planetarium parking lot. The car was towed to a undisclosed location, where her body was discovered.
UPDATE III: Autopsy reveals high level of sedative
BENADRYL-LIKE MEDICINE IN STANFORD STUDENT’S BODY
Stanford University doctoral student Mengyao “May” Zhou — found dead in Santa Rosa days after she vanished from the campus — had a high level of a legal drug in her system, the Sonoma County coroner’s office reported Thursday night.
Although coroner’s officials said a cause of death has yet to be determined, they did find a toxic level of diphenhydramine, the antihistamine and sedative found in the allergy medication Benadryl and other drugs. Tests found 6.15 milligrams per liter in Zhou’s system; 1 to 5 milligrams per liter is the potentially toxic range.
No other drugs or alcohol were found in Zhou’s system, according to the toxicology report, which stemmed from an autopsy. Officials have previously said there were “no outward signs of foul play.” They have also have said Zhou’s death appeared to be a suicide. (Mercury News)
January 24th, 2007 at 03:13pm
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Volunteers continue to search for the missing Purdue student, Wade Steffey. Searchers hope to find Wade Steffey’s cell phone.
One of the areas will be on campus looking for Steffey’s missing cell phone. Bishop didn’t want to say this morning where the other two areas would be so that people wouldn’t decide to search on their own as it will encompass some private property.
Police have been looking for any evidence they can link to Steffey’s disappearance, including a silver, flip-style Verizon phone that belongs to Steffey.
Search for missing Purdue student continues with SAR dogs
This was the fourth time police have used trained dogs to search the campus for signs of Wade S. Steffey, a Purdue freshman from Bloomington. Steffey has been missing since Jan. 13.
The dog team that searched Tuesday, Advance K9 Search & Recovery, Inc., of Indianapolis, works closely with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children based in Alexandria, Va.
“The K9s are searching at the epicenter of the area where we last knew where Wade was,” said Capt. John Cox of the Purdue University Police Department. “They’re going to double check and triple check. We don’t want to miss anything.”
January 24th, 2007 at 12:41pm
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The search continues fro the missing 19 year old Purdue University student Wade Steffey. Investigators went to Missouri to check out two suspects, 27 year old David Bradley and 21 year old Jeffrey Thurman who were charged in the beating death of 56-year-old Ricky Haynes of Farmington, MO.
Investigators questioned two suspects in a Missouri murder who were believed to have been in the Lafayette area when a missing Purdue University student was last seen.
But police don’t believe the men they talked to over the weekend were involved in the disappearance of 19-year-old Wade Steffey, a freshman from Bloomington. He was last seen early on January 13th leaving a party at the Phi Kappa Theta fraternity house on the north side of campus.
Purdue spokeswoman Jeanne Norberg says while police don’t think the men are involved in Steffey’s case, they did request D-N-A samples from the men just in case. (WAVE 3)
The National Center for Exploited Children announced Sunday it will take up the case of Purdue University student Wade Steffey
The announcement came a day after hundreds of students and two police K-9 units scoured West Lafayette for Steffey’s cell phone and other clues about his disappearance. The search failed to yield any new evidence.
To help with the investigation, Purdue University several days ago asked its trash hauler to begin setting aside garbage collected in the area, said university spokeswoman Jeanne Norberg. The goal is to prevent the disposal of evidence investigators might have overlooked. (Boiler Station)
UPDATE: Ex-FBI Agent, Profiler Join Search For Missing Student
A retired FBI agent and a former profiler for the agency has joined the investigation of a Purdue student’s recent disappearance, authorities said Monday.
The two will be working on the case of Wade Steffey through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Information on the missing student also was being added to the center’s national database. (The Indy Channel)
Also from earlier reports that the authorities were looking at two suspects from Missouri. Update, “Authorities: Missouri Murder Suspects Not Involved In Steffey Disappearance.”
January 22nd, 2007 at 06:07pm
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ALL UPDATES CAN BE READ HERE.
19 year old Wade S. Steffey, a freshman at Purdue University has been missing since Saturday January 13, 2007. Steffey was last seen at a party at a fraternity house, the
Phi Kappa Theta fraternity house on the north side of campus. No one has seen him since and police are treating the disappearance as suspicious.
Description:
- Steffey, a freshman from Bloomington, IN
- short, brown hair
- brown eyes
- 5 feet 10 inches tall
- weighs about 150 pounds
- he was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt with light blue stripes and light-colored jeans.
If anyone has any information please call the Purdue Police Department at 765-494-8221.
Reward fund set up for missing student
Hundreds search for missing student
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University police, aided by hundreds of volunteers from the university and the community, started a mass ground search of the campus for a student who has been missing since Saturday morning.
There has been a correction in the use of Wade Steffy’s ATM card.
This afternoon, police also said earlier information about when Steffey’s bank account was accessed in the hours before he disappeared was incorrect. Police now say a $50 withdrawal from Steffey’s bank account was made at an ATM in the Ford Dining Hall, 1122 W. Stadium Ave., at 8:30 p.m. Friday. Originally, police thought the withdrawal was at 1:11 a.m. Saturday. They say that was the time when bank records were downloaded, not when withdrawals were made.
Missing student’s parents will take plea to ‘Good Morning America’ Saturday
WEST LAFAYETTE — Dale and Dawn Steffey, the parents of missing Purdue University student Wade S. Steffey, will appear on “Good Morning America” Saturday.
Dale Steffey said his son could be anywhere now that he’s been missing for six days.
“He could be in any part of the country or the world in this day and age,” Dale Steffey said.
The parents are requesting that people all over the country keep an eye out for their son.
“Time’s really important in this,” Dale Steffey said. “It’s just been too long.” (Palladium-Item)
January 19th, 2007 at 05:10pm
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22 year old Joseph Zahornacky, a student at Manhattanville College, is missing. His car was found submerged in Brookfield, CT’s Lake Lillinonah Tuesday morning. To date there has been no sign of Joseph Zahornacky.
Description:
- 6 feet tall
- about 190 pounds
- blond hair
- blue eyes.
Police found 22-year-old Joseph Zahornacky’s car submerged in Brookfield’s Lake Lillinonah Tuesday morning, but there is no sign of him.
Zahornakcy’s family told NBC 30 they last spoke to him Monday night on his way to school at Manhattanville College in Westchester County, N.Y.
They said he had returned from a trip to California and had just left LaGuardia Airport. (NBC30)
UPDATE I: Police say body found in lake is missing student
HARTFORD, Conn. — Divers searching a lake in rural western Connecticut on Wednesday found the body of a college student missing since Monday, police said.
Divers found Zahornacky’s body after two days of searching in frigid water. Family members identified him at the scene and his body was taken to the chief state medical examiner’s office for an autopsy, which was scheduled for Thursday.
State Police Lt. J. Paul Vance said authorities have labeled his death suspicious but are not releasing any details about how he died. They are asking anyone with information to contact them.
Surveillance video from Monday night showed Zahornacky talking with a petite redhead at a convenience store in Greenwich. Family members did not recognize her.
Records show Zahornacky also bought gas at a station in the town, which is not far from the New York border. A family friend said it would not have been unusual for Zahornacky to stop in Greenwich on his way back to school.
Zahornacky’s family and state troopers said there was no apparent reason for him to be in Bridgewater. (The Advocate)
UPDATE II: Death Of Missing Student, Joseph Zahornacky, Ruled A Suicide
A missing college student whose body was found in a lake in rural western Connecticut drowned himself, police said Thursday.
An autopsy was conducted Thursday on the body of Joseph Zahornacky, 22, of Shelton (Hartford Courant)
January 16th, 2007 at 06:21pm
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Tim Miller and Texas Equusearch has been an integral part of the search for Jodi Sanderholm. TES received a call from authorities in Ark City, Kansas to see if they could not help out with the search.
Within minutes Tim Miller and the volunteers of Texas Equusearch located the car of Jodi Sanderholm in the local lake.
Tim Miller provided Scared Monkeys an exclusive interview as to the events that transpired. Tim Miller also had much praise for the Ark City authorities and those that helped search for Jodi. He also had many prayers for Jodi and her family. Please listen to the replay podcast of the interview with Tim Miller.
Tim Miller was rather confident that arrests would be made very soon. No charges have been filed yet; however, according to reports they should be by next week.
Standard Podcast [7:30m]: Play in Popup | Download
January 12th, 2007 at 12:04am
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It had been reported earlier that there was a tow truck at the lake site that was being searched.
According to sources the vehicle of Jodi Sanderholm, a black 2003 Dodge Stratus, has been found at the Cowley State Fishing Lake. Volunteer members of Texas EquuSearch found the car today within minutes of putting their boat in the water. This area had been an area of interest with searches yesterday as well by authorities.
The vehicle is now out of the water and on a flatbed truck. The investigators will now scour the black 2003 Dodge Stratus for clues.
We continue to pray for Jodi Sanderholm, friends and family.
Updates to follow …
UPDATE I: Its is now being reported by local media KWCH, Missing Woman’s Car Found
Authorities in Arkansas City have just pulled the car belonging to a missing 19-year-old woman, out of a nearby lake. The car was taken past our crews covering the story, on a flatbed truck.
UPDATE II: 1-9-06 – Authorities have recovered the car belonging to missing teenager Jodi Sanderholm. Searchers pulled the car from the lake at the Cowley County State Park on Tuesday afternoon (KAKE)
UPDATE III (6:15 CDT): Body Found, PD Preparing Charges
We had been hearing rumors all day that a body may have been found. It is now being reported that a body has been found in a rural area. They have not stated whether it is Jodi, but its hard to imagine it is not. Sadly enough.
1-9-06 – Searchers found the body of a female early this morning in a rural area of southeast Cowley County. By noon on Tuesday, they recovered Jodi Sanderholm’s car from the Cowley County lake. Police also say they are preparing charges against a known suspect.
In a statement released from the Arkansas City Police Department Tuesday night, authorities would not say if the body was that of Sanderholm. They did say the body would be transferred to the Sedgwick County Forensic Science Center for identification and autopsy. (KAKE)
Body Found in Kansas Missing Student Case
The body has been taken to the Sedgwick County Forensic Science Center in Wichita for identification and autopsy, according to a news release.
The release said authorities were “preparing a charging document against a known suspect. The exact charges will be released at a later date.” (AP)
January 9th, 2007 at 05:20pm
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Suspicions …
Police in Ark City, KS have stated that they are questioning an individual who was arrested on “un-related charges” in the disappearance of 19 year old Jodi Sanderholm.
The man is in custody on charges unrelated to Sanderholm’s disappearance, Wallace said Sunday afternoon. Police discovered an arrest warrant for the man when they questioned him about the Sanderholm case, he said.
Could this be the individual and the un-related charges?
Justin Thurber, 23, of Ark City, was arrested over the weekend for false impersonation.
Interim Chief Sean Wallace said Thurber, a bounty hunter/bondsman employed with Morris Bail Bonds on North C, claimed to be working with the Ark City police in order to gain entrance to an Ark City residence to conduct a search.
“He was looking for a guy who jumped bond,” Wallace said. “He told them (the residents) that he was working with the Ark City Police Department and that he had a warrant to search the house.”
Wallace said his department does not have a bondsman or any bounty hunters working for them. (ARK City.net)
KAKE Takes an Inside Look into the Man Questioned
The man questioned by police is also reported to have worked at the Subway, the last reported place Jodi Sanderholm had been seen.
Police arrested a man over the weekend, on charges in a separate incident. They have questioned him in the missing teen case, although he has not been named as a suspect in the case, nor charged with a related crime.
KAKE News spoke with the man’s former landlord, Kevin Swick, who said the man, in his 20′s, was evicted not long before his arrest. The landlord said police were searching the home early Saturday morning, around 3:30am. He told KAKE that officers found shell casings – the landlord believes the man would occasionally fire random shots from his back door.
The man was also an employee at a Subway restaurant. It’s also the last place that Sanderholm was seen on Friday.
The man’s parents have also been questioned, and may have helped the man move out recently. (KAKE)
UPDATE: Justin Thurber Charged the Capital Murder & Rape of Jodi Sanderholm
January 9th, 2007 at 02:30pm
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As was reported last night, Tim Miller and Texas EquuSearch were asked by authorities to help search for missing 19 year old Jodi Sanderholm. They arrived today to discuss a game plan with authorities and should begin searching.
Mr. Miller is awaiting further contact and will be on a plane to the area within hours. Please keep Jodi and her family as well as all involved in this search in your prayers. (Texas Equusearch.org)
Searchers focus on lake: Residents are asked to check outbuildings for woman’s car
(Wichita Eagle)
The search for a missing Arkansas City woman focused Monday on Cowley State Fishing Lake. Divers explored the lake on U.S. 166 near 256th Road, about 15 miles east of downtown Arkansas City, for any trace of 19-year-old Jodi Sanderholm, who has been missing since Friday.
“We’ve recovered evidence out there, and we’re continuing to recover evidence,” interim Police Chief Sean Wallace told The Eagle.
Jodi Sanderholm’s Myspace account
From Greta Van Susteren, “On the Record“.
VAN SUSTEREN: What kind of car was she driving?
WALLACE: She was driving a 2003 black Dodge Stratus four-door. It’s got a Kansas tag of WOT-921. And on the front of the car, there is a personalized tag in airbrushed “Jodi” on the front, and does have a sunroof.
VAN SUSTEREN: So by now, she would have had – if she were driving someplace, would have had to probably get gasoline. I take it that you’ve checked to see if her credit cards, gas cards have been used.
WALLACE: We’ve been following her credit cards and her gas cards and there’s also – the vehicle’s in NNCIC (ph). If it were to get pulled over anywhere or stopped anywhere, it would show as a missing person’s vehicle. That’s one of the things that makes us concerned.
VAN SUSTEREN: Any activity on the credit cards?
WALLACE: No activity whatsoever.
—
VAN SUSTEREN: All right. Now, there was someone that you – that was investigated on Sunday, I think, is that right? Someone was talked to?
WALLACE: Yes. Because of some previous reports we had about an individual who had stalked some dance line girls and had showed some interest in them, and because of their fears of this individual, we did talk with him. He was interviewed, and he – we arrested him on some unrelated charges that were based on an investigation that we had ongoing prior to Jodi coming up missing. So he’s in jail right now on about a $35,000 bond for two unrelated charges. And we’ll continue to work that avenue and continue talk with him through his attorney, as he’s asked to not talk with us without her.
VAN SUSTEREN: All right. So you have not cleared him, in short.
WALLACE: Not completely, no.
UPDATE: Within the noon hour, police brought two tow trucks and an ambulance to the scene at the lake where they’ve been searching.
Police aren’t saying if they’ve located anything, or specifically what the tow trucks and ambulance are for. They did tell Eyewitness News yesterday, that they recovered what they call “evidence” in the case of the missing 19-year-old. (KWCH)
ALL RECENT UPDATES TO CASE
January 9th, 2007 at 12:37pm
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Jodi Sanderholm, 19, a member of the Cowley College Danceline team and a pre-dentistry major has been missing since Friday, January 5, 2006. Jodi Sanderholm was last seen at Subway wearing cutoff grey sweats and a black leotard. She was reported as being on her way to a friends house but never arrived.
Jodie Sanderholm Description:
- 5 ft. 3 in.
- weighs 105 lbs.
- brown hair and brown eyes
- last seen at Subway wearing cutoff grey sweats and a black leotard
- Sanderholm’s car was last seen Friday around 1 p.m. heading east on Kansas Avenue near the Ark City Middle School.
- She drives a black, 2003 Dodge Stratus coupe, Kansas tag number WOT-921.
- The car has a sun roof and the personalized tag “Jodi” on the front of the vehicle.
The search has been expanded to Southeastern Cowley County. Authorities are also investigation an unnamed man who is described as a groupie of the College dance team. The man is in custody on “unrelated charges”.
Authorities continue to question a man Ark City Police Chief Sean Wallace described as a “groupie” of the College’s danceline team, of which Jodi was a member.
The man is in custody on charges unrelated to Sanderholm’s disappearance, Wallace said Sunday afternoon. Police discovered an arrest warrant for the man when they questioned him about the Sanderholm case, he said.
Some people close to Sanderholm suspect the man is involved in her vanishing, Wallace said. But there is no evidence linking him to the disappearance and Wallace asked that his name not be made public to protect his rights and his safety. (Arkcity.net)
If anyone has seen her or has any information, please contact the Arkansas City Police Dept. at 620-441-4444
Scared Monkeys Forum discussion
UPDATE: Police recover evidence linked to missing teen
In a prepared statement, Arkansas City Police Capt. Sean Wallace said “important leads” have been developed in the case. With the help of trackers from the Arkansas City Fire Department and the Dexter Fire District, police spent Sunday evening searching rural areas of the county. (Wichita Eagle)
ALL RECENT UPDATE TO CASE
January 8th, 2007 at 11:10am
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