Police have conducted extensive searches of wooded areas in upstate New York in an effort to find a missing college student from Maryland.
Frederick native and Rochester Institute of Technology junior George Delany, 21, was last seen at his Chili, N.Y., apartment on March 12, according to police and his family. His car was found in Wayland the next day, said Trooper Mark O’Donnell, a New York State Police spokesman.
Since then, police have canvassed a 250-acre area near the abandoned car, but have turned up no sign of Delany, a political science major. O’Donnell said ground and helicopter crews searched the land again for eight hours Tuesday.
“We knew he was frustrated with school,” Delany’s mother, Susan, said. “But there was nothing to indicate he would have just taken off.”
Susan Delany said she spoke to her son the morning of March 12, the day he was last seen. It was a “normal, how are you doing,” phone call, she said.
Students and professors at the university are trying to spread the word about Delany’s disappearance. They’ve created a Facebook group, called Students Finding George Delany, to share news and distribute photographs and information. They’ve put up a flier around campus. And Tuesday night, the school held a “rally of hope” to encourage people to share information about the search for Delany.
“It’s possible that someone might have helpful information, who doesn’t realize George is missing,” said political science professor Paloma Capanna, who has taught Delany in two courses. Capanna said she and a group of students have placed posters in about 25 small towns.
O’Donnell said police will continue checking hospitals, hotels and abandoned structures for signs of Delany.
Delany is described as white, about 5 feet 10 inches tall and about 150 pounds. He has red-blond hair.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 585-398-4100.
