UPDATE: The father of a UL student reunited with his daughter in California.
———-
UL Police are no longer investigating the whereabouts of a UL student who is not responding to her family’s efforts to locate her.
The student’s father, Bryan Chase, is still asking for assistance in locating her. He said he flew to Los Angeles, hoping to meet the bus she took from Lafayette, but missed the connection because the information he received was wrong.
"My heart is broken into a million pieces. I can’t think straight. My first born baby girl is missing and I am helpless to do anything. I held her as a baby and swore I would always protect her… I’ve let her down and now I may never see her again," Chase wrote. "I Pray that she will reach out if she can to anyone. She is so loved and so missed by me and her mother and family. If anyone has any details please contact: Bryan Chase at 3184659138 or Missy Howell Morse at 3184700790."
UL Police issued a statement, outlining what they’ve found about the student’s movements before she vanished.
"Video surveillance showed Chase at the counter of the Lafayette Greyhound bus station. We obtained documentation indicating a bus ticket was purchased in her name to Los Angeles on Monday, June 25, 2018, at approximately 12:45 P.M. Additional video surveillance showed her boarding a Greyhound bus moments later," UL Police say.
The video shows the student, wearing a very full backpack, boarding a bus.
"Being a “voluntary” missing person is not a crime. Any adult person can simply walk away, and choose to ignore family, friends, associates and employers. Since this type of behavior is not “criminal”, law enforcement is limited on how it conduct these types of investigations. When facts and circumstances indicate a strong possibility of “foul play”, or the disappearance is the result of a criminal act, the investigation will continue," UL Police say.
