Missing College Student (Illinois State University)

wrigley · #1 10-19-2005, 12:18 PM

FBI joins probe of student's disappearance
ISU senior was last heard from in Normal on Thursday evening

By Joseph Sjostrom and Grace Aduroja
Tribune staff reporters
Published October 19, 2005

Friends and family of a missing college student from Berkeley on Tuesday were holding out hope for her safe return despite a baffling lack of clues about her disappearance last week from her apartment in Downstate Normal.

Although local police say foul play is not suspected in the disappearance of Olamide Adeyooye, the FBI on Tuesday began assisting local and state police in the case and information has been forwarded to a national crime database, officials said.

Adeyooye, 21, a graduate of Proviso West High School and a senior science major at Illinois State University in Normal, has not been heard from since a phone conversation with her boyfriend, Andy Wildrick, Thursday night.

After three years of nearly daily contact, Wildrick said five days of silence is almost unbearable.

"I can barely contain myself," said Wildrick, a rock band guitarist who was on tour in East Coast cities last week. "I just sit here staring at the telephone."

Called "Ola" by her friends and "Lamide" by her mother, Adeyooye is described as a studious and responsible person who takes early-morning classes, works as a waitress to help support herself and sometimes studies until 5 a.m. Friends say she knew how to have a good time, too, and that she had no reason to voluntarily disappear.

"All she wants to do is pursue her goals in science and to make her mother proud of her," said her friend and classmate Ashley Petry.

Adeyooye's mother believes something is amiss.

"They said they're not suspecting a foul play, but there's a foul play because Lamide would never disappear on her own," Yinka Adeyooye said Tuesday. "She's really looking toward graduation."

Adeyooye's parents and brother are staying in housing provided by the university as they seek answers, and friends have distributed hundreds of fliers around the Bloomington-Normal area. They also have posted information on numerous Web sites and blogs. And the Black Student Union is organizing a candlelight prayer vigil in the center of campus Thursday.

Normal police Lt. David Warner said information on Adeyooye's disappearance has been added to computerized databases on missing people and crime information available to police across the country.

Warner said police classify the case as a missing person situation not involving foul play "based on the totality of the circumstances," but he declined to describe those circumstances. He said that as a rule, foul play is suspected when "extremely unusual" circumstances are present, and he conceded that "the longer [she is missing] the more unusual it gets."

Wildrick said when he and Adeyooye spoke last Thursday, she said she was canceling plans to go out with friends and instead would rent a movie and stay home. She visited a video rental store that night, friends said, but Friday she didn't show up for work at a restaurant.

Friends then reported her missing and accompanied officers to her off-campus apartment Saturday. They discovered the television and lights on and a fan running. The video she had rented was in the VCR. There was food in the microwave, and her cell phone was on the couch.

Adeyooye was gone, and so were her comforter and her car--a four-door, green, 1996 Toyota Corolla with Illinois license number LBG 927.

Wildrick said he and his rock band, Junior Varsity, performed Thursday in Connecticut and Friday in Philadelphia, then drove home and canceled the rest of their engagements through November.

Adeyooye was born in Nigeria and came to the United States with her family at the age of 8, he said. They met a few weeks after the start of their freshman year.

Wildrick said he and other band members dropped out of Illinois State as sophomores to pursue their music and are now away on tour for two to three months at a time.

"We have at times questioned our relationship because of our very different lifestyles, she in science, me in a band, but it always just seemed that we're drawn to each other, that we'd always find a way to make it work," Wildrick said.

"We are just very much in love, and it's horrible to think that somebody could have come along and ended this," he said.

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I hope she's found safe and sound.

BobbyTheDon · #2 10-19-2005, 01:52 PM

Daaaang that sucks!

My best friend goes to ISU and is a coach for the forensics team. I think he knew this girl somehow. I know he knows one of the band members for sure.

Crazy! I hope she comes up soon

honeychile · #3 10-24-2005, 07:24 AM

Any news on this?

wrigley · #4 10-24-2005, 10:59 AM

12 days and counting since anyone has seen her. Local news has reported that some of her personal items were found near a dumpster. There have been search teams and volunteers.

From blog searches, I found Olamide Adeyooye's webpage and the speech her best friend gave at her vigil.

Honeykiss1974 · #5 10-24-2005, 11:45 AM

I saw this in GMA last week.

My prayers go out to her family and I pray for her safe return. Her mom's pain and tears when she spoke made me cry that morning.

PM_Mama00 · #6 10-24-2005, 11:48 AM

While I think it's great that her best friend set up that myspace page, I find some things kinda weird. I feel bad that she was raped and all that, but some stuff in her blog seemed kind of "woe is me. put the attention on me". Why would this girls parents and childhood friend ask the best friend to stop talkin to the media? I'm confused.

TheEpitome1920 · #7 10-25-2005, 10:38 PM

This is so sad, I really hope this ends on a positive note.

_Q_ · #8 10-26-2005, 04:06 PM

A body has been found near Meridian, MS that could possibly be the missing student, but they apparently haven't made any identification yet.
http://www.meridianstar.com/articles...es/a1-body.txt
http://www.pantagraph.com/stories/10...51026028.shtml

Tom Earp · #9 10-26-2005, 04:27 PM

Not sure if it is the same thing. But a body was found in Il. that they think may be the Lost Girl. It would be strange if it was Her Body in Mississippi instead of closer to the crime

Reported in the KC Star this morning!

TheEpitome1920 · #10 10-26-2005, 04:30 PM

_Q_ · #11 10-26-2005, 04:36 PM

The body in Mississippi was confirmed to be the missing student.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...l=chi-news-hed

Honeykiss1974 · #12 10-26-2005, 04:39 PM

Mercy

Comfort her family and friends Lord.

ETA: I just wanted to say that this article talked about student propping open locked doors with shoes/rocks so kids could come in and ouot of the dorm - we did that ALL the time when I was in school (ie too lazy to walk around to the main door, letting guys in, etc.). Lord only knows the psychos that could have just as easily walked into the dorm and hurt someone. At the time, we thought nothing of it but reading about it just now in that article, really makes me realize not only how dumb that was, but how it just as easily could have been me or anyone else kidnapped.

TheEpitome1920 · #13 10-26-2005, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by _Q_
The body in Mississippi was confirmed to be the missing student.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...l=chi-news-hed

Oh no!!!

My prayers are with her family and friends. And I hope they get to the bottom of what happened..this is so sad.

wrigley · #14 10-26-2005, 05:21 PM

My prayers go out to her family and friends.

I know it's been said before but please be careful of what you post on your myspace account about yourself. I hope they find who's responsible and let her family have their day in court.

Thank you _Q_ for posting the update.

Tom Earp · #15 10-26-2005, 05:27 PM

_Q_, thanks!

It is sad for all especially The Family of a Beautiful Young Lady!

Hope they catch the Ass Wipe to soon and fry His Butt!