Missing Rice student found (CHRON)

I hadnt heard about this story before, but apparently the guy had dissapeared before Christmas.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5942772.html

A Rice University student missing since before Christmas was found at UC Berkeley Wednesday night after campus police detained him as a theft suspect, authorities said.

Matthew Wilson, 21, whose car was found parked on a West Berkeley street in June, was found with a stolen laptop in Dwinelle Hall on campus about 9 p.m. Central Time, said UC Berkeley Assistant Police Chief Mitch Celaya.

Campus police Officer Sean Aranas was walking through the building when he saw Wilson in a classroom by himself with the laptop connected to a projector, Celaya said.

Wilson gave the officer a different name and acknowledged that he wasn’t a student,Celaya said. He eventually identified himself by his true name, police said.

Investigators are interviewing Wilson to confirm his whereabouts over the past eight months, said Berkeley police Sgt. Mary Kusmiss.

"It’s definitely good news," said Bridget Melson, 38, of Pleasanton, who helped look for Wilson in Berkeley. "I heard that he was doing well and he’s healthy. We’re just interested in what the charges are."

Wilson, who is from Haworth, Okla., was last seen before Christmas at Rice University, where he was a junior majoring in computer science. But instead of taking his final exams, he withdrew $500 from an ATM and disappeared.

Family and friends couldn’t make sense of it all. The mystery deepened when Wilson’s silver 2004 Dodge Neon was found June 10 parked on the 1200 block of Allston Way in West Berkeley. Inside were his clothes, his digital clock and a book on identity theft.

Wilson’s mother, Cathy Wilson, and friends surmised that Wilson had willingly left Houston and didn’t want to be found. They were intrigued by numerous reported sightings of someone who looked like him — slight build, pale skin, a full head of curly red hair and a shaggy red beard — at People’s Park in Berkeley and as far away as Ygnacio Valley Road in Walnut Creek.

His family last saw Wilson at Thanksgiving. He last talked to his mom on Dec. 7, when they discussed plans for the holidays. He was last seen by his roommate on Dec. 14.

When he was found Wednesday night, Wilson was dressed in a black T-shirt, black jeans and black athletic shoes. His hair was short, he had no beard and he was wearing wire-framed glasses, Kusmiss said.

 

i knew i should have wrote "Discuss" at the end of my OP...