14 News, The Tri-State's News and Weather Leader-UPDATE: Search Called Off for Former VU Student
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Reporter: Jason Beisel
Web Producer: Amber Griswold
UPDATE, 4PM MON: The search for a missing former Vincennes University student has been called off for the time being.
Nineteen-year-old Christopher Thiem was last seen by a Vincennes University police officer on a CSX railroad bridge at around 4 am Wednesday morning. Although there was no sighting of Thiem actually falling into the swollen Wabash River, search and rescue teams have spent the last week searching for possible clues.
University officials say the bridge can be a magnet for VU students to visit. Spokesman Duane Chattin says, "It's designed for a train and that's all. It does not have any features that make it safe for a pedestrian to attempt to cross. So it has been discouraged. A long time policy among all law enforcement agencies in Vincennes to cite people that are found on this bridge."
Search teams plan to begin searching this area, along with other areas upstream after flood waters begin to recede.
UPDATE, SAT 6PM: Search and rescue crews continue to look for a former Vincennes University Student.
Christopher Thiem was last seen on Wednesday, January 12th, by friends.
The Ohio Valley Search and Rescue Teams were out Saturday to help assist in the search.
By air, by water, and by land, the Ohio Valley Search and Rescue Teams, along with the Vincennes University Police Department, spent the day Saturday searching for 19-year old Thiem.
Harold Crooks, Ohio Valley Search and Rescue, said, "Right now we're looking for any sign that might indicate a place to look, where somebody might have gone."
Thiem, a former VU student, was in town to collect some personal items.
Duane Chattin, V.U. Director of Public Information, explained, "His family tells us he was not planning to enroll in Vincennes University this semester. Was in the city to take his belongings from his residents hall room. That is the reason he traveled from his hometown of Elkhart to Vincennes."
Friends say Thiem was at a party, and the last time they saw him was around four Wednesday morning at a railroad bridge that crosses the Wabash River.
Chattin said, "The fact that the river is at almost record levels here in Vincennes, makes us fear that he may have fallen in the Wabash river. We do not have a visual sighting that that did occur, but that's our fear."
Not only are rescue teams looking for signs that may show whether or not Thiem may have fallen into the swollen Wabash, they're also searching areas around the river where he may have been.
Harold Crooks, of Ohio Valley Search and Rescue, explained, "We've also had a dog in a boat out searching part of the river. We will continue to do that."
"On the other side of the bridge we have found some tracks where somebody went off of the river bed. Who that was, I can't say if it's related to this case or not."
Thiem's mother, father, and brother have been on the scene for the past couple of days, hoping to find any sign that their son is still alive.
Crooks told Newswatch, "All of them have expressed appreciation to the rescue workers that have been working around the clock trying to find their son."
Family members told Newswatch that if you have any information on the whereabouts of Thiem, call the VU Police Department at (812) 888-4274.
EARLIER: Police are searching for a missing former Vincennes University student.
Nineteen-year old Christopher Thiem was last seen crossing the CSX Railroad bridge over the Wabash River in Vincennes around four a.m. Wednesday.
Police and fire officials searched the river Wednesday and Thursday by boat, but found no sign of Thiem.
An aerial search by the VU Aviation Flight Department also turned up nothing Friday.
If you have any information about Thiem's where about's, you're asked to call Vincennes Police.
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