Song investigation turns toward Midwest for answers
STATE COLLEGE — Authorities are checking to see whether there is a connection between the disappearance last year of a Penn State student and four college-age adults who have gone missing recently in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Edward J. Connor, chief of police in Ferguson Township, said Friday that investigators looking into the Cindy Song disappearance were talking with authorities investigating the cases in the upper Midwest.
“The detective has already been in touch with all of the relevant police departments out there,” Connor said.
Song was a 21-year-old computer graphics student when she disappeared just over a year ago. Friends dropped her off at her apartment after a Halloween party, and she hasn’t been seen since.
Three male college students and a 21-year-old woman have disappeared since Oct. 30 within a 170-mile radius in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Their families suspect the cases might be connected.
Joshua Guimond, a St. John’s University junior was the last student to disappear. The Maple Lake, Minn., native was last seen leaving a Nov. 9 party and his car was found on campus.
Michael J. Knoll, a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, was last seen leaving a bar late on Nov. 6 — his 22nd birthday.
Christopher Jenkins, a senior management major at the University of Minnesota, has been missing since Oct. 31. The 21-year-old was last seen leaving a Halloween party in Minneapolis.
Erika Dalquist, the first person to be reported missing, was last seen leaving a bar in her hometown of Brainerd, Minn. on Oct 30.
Connor said his office began looking into a possible connection with the Song case after a local resident told an officer about the cases in the Midwest.
“We got it from a concerned citizen who brought it to an officer’s attention, which is the break we’re going to need,” Connor said. “When we clear this thing, it’s going to be that — somebody picks something up, whether it’s a piece of information or something they saw in the media, and says ‘Hey, have you looked here?’ ”
Collegian staff writer Adam Fabian contributed to this report.
Source: http://www.collegian.psu.edu
Song investigation turns toward Midwest for answers
Monday, Nov. 18, 2002