• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Missing Wisconsin Student Found Alive

Posted on: Wednesday, 31 March 2004, 06:00 CST

MADISON, Wis. - A missing University of Wisconsin student was found alive Wednesday in a marsh, four days after she vanished from her nearby apartment with no coat or purse.

Police gave no details on what happened to Audrey Seiler, including whether she was abducted. Seiler, 20, had non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to a hospital, Officer Larry Kamholz said.

Police with their weapons drawn were seen walking through the parking lot of a building near the marsh, and SWAT teams also were on the scene, authorities said.

The discovery capped an intense search in which dozens of volunteers from Seiler's hometown slogged through marshes and woods around campus and investigators scoured phone records and apartments for any clue into the disappearance. Police also used dogs, planes and boats in the search.

Kamholz said Seiler was found after an employee at a nearby office building called police to report what she thought was a body in the marsh less than two miles from Seiler's off-campus apartment.

"Right now it's just an unbelievable feeling," said Roman Pierskalla, principal of the high school in Seiler's hometown of Rockford, Minn., a small town just east of the Twin Cities. "Today, the prayers of everyone in the Rockford community have been answered."

Seiler was last seen on a surveillance tape from her apartment building early Saturday morning. She apparently left without her car or any personal belongings, and her door was left open.

More than two dozen investigators involved in the case are reviewing files of sex offenders and others with a criminal history living in the area of Seiler's apartment.

Seiler was involved in another mysterious incident on Feb. 1, when she was struck from behind by an unknown assailant and knocked unconscious, police said. She was then moved about a block from where she was attacked but was not sexually assaulted or robbed, authorities said.

Police have said there was no evidence to link the attack with her disappearance.

"Audrey was worried after having been attacked and, as a result, was more careful to walk with friends and make sure she was safe," said her uncle, Scott Charlesworth-Seiler.

More News in this Category