WEST LAFAYETTE (AP) - Purdue University plans to keep open a volunteer center set up to aid in the search for a missing freshman.
Wade Steffey, 19, of Bloomington, was last seen early Jan. 13 after a party at the Phi Kappa Theta fraternity house on the north side of campus.
IN Hope, an advocacy group for families of missing people, had been running the Wade Steffey Volunteer Center near Ross-Ade Stadium. The group had decided to close it at the request of Steffey's family, who wanted campus life to return to normal, said Patti Bishop, coordinator for IN Hope.
But the university has decided to keep it open, said Jeanne Norberg, Purdue spokeswoman.
"IN Hope understood the need to have a place for volunteers and a staff to organize searches, and the university appreciates their initiative," Norberg said. "The search, however, is far from over, and we continue to need the public's help."
Several searches that included student and community volunteers, helicopters and dogs have turned up few clues to Steffey's whereabouts. No new searches were scheduled.
The IN Hope volunteers will continue their efforts and any future searches will be announced, Purdue officials said.
Police were asking the public to search their own properties, especially in rural areas.
They advised people to look for a silver, flip-style cell phone, a wallet, items such as identification cards, a white shirt with blue stripes, shoes size 10.5 and light blue jeans size 30 by 32.
Steffey was reported missing after friends returned from the school's three-day break for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and could not find him.
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