Authorities in Texas are asking for the public's help in finding a missing college student who disappeared Monday morning.
Caleb Harris, a student at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, was last seen near his off-campus apartment complex in the "overnight hours" of March 4, Corpus Christi police said. After his roommates were unable to locate the 21-year-old later that morning, Harris' family reported him missing.
The AWARE Foundation, a nonprofit for missing persons, said Harris was taking his dog out when his Snapchat location last pinged him at the residence at 2:45 a.m. His car, keys and wallet were left in his apartment, and although he did have his phone, it has since been turned off, authorities said.
Harris' father, Randy, told Scripps News Corpus Christi he last spoke to his son Sunday night, and heard that he was missing Monday morning from the boy's roommate. He said this sort of behavior is unlike Harris.
"He's just a normal kid with a normal routine," Randy told Scripps News Corpus Christi. "He [was] planning on school the next day, going to go fishing the next afternoon. He even texted me pictures of lures and fish that he planned on catching the next day, so I have no idea what happened. We're looking."
The AWARE Foundation
By Wednesday, CCPD, Texas Search and Rescue, the Coast Guard, friends and family were executing a search of the area around where Harris was last seen with the help of K-9 dogs trained in human detection. The Corpus Christi Dive Team was also reported to be searching canals near Harris' apartment complex, while drones were also deployed to search from above.
"We're using the cadets that we have currently in the academy to physically get their boots on the ground and canvas the adjacent fields, the drainage ditches, areas like that," CCPD Senior Officer Antonio Contreras said. "Right now as of early afternoon, we don't have any updates, but we're really working hard to find him."
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi organized a gathering Thursday night in support of the search.
"The safety and well-being of our students is our utmost priority," the university said. "We ask our university community and the public to keep Caleb and his family in your thoughts. TAMU-CC remains hopeful for Caleb's safe return."
Anyone with information on Harris' whereabouts is urged to contact Corpus Christi Police at 361-886-2840.
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