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Missing Student Spent Time In Florida'Just an adult who decided to take himself'From Wire And Local SourcesATHENS, Ohio — The son of a prominent Willard family, who disappeared more than two years ago, has since turned up in Florida, but his exact whereabouts still remain a mystery to his family and police.Blake White, who was a student at Ohio University, Athens, when he suddenly vanished Dec. 11,1976, has been traced to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., prompting University officials, who once helped in the search for the 22-year-old, to close the book on the case.Charles Cook, an official at the Fort Lauderdale Rescue Mission, said White, 22, registered there inthe spring of 1977 and spent three weeks at the center.“He paid $4 a night and we haven’t heard from him since,” said Cook.Capt. Angelo Sarinato of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department said he was contacted by White’s parents, Phillip and Beverly White of Willard about two weeks ago.Sarinato said White traded in the car he drove from the OU campus and obtained a Florida drivers license under his real name in 1977.Bill Kane, assistant security director at OU, said there apparently was no crime involved and “he was just an adult who decided to take off by himself.”“As far as the university is concerned the case is closed,” said Carol Harter, vice president and dean of student affairs.But apparently nobody seems to know where White is at the present time.“We have not located our son,” the father, a Norwalk attorney, reportedly told United Press International. “I don’t want to make any statements. It could damage the sources we have down there. We have had a lot of false alarms in the past two years. We are still investigating.” The Whites were unavailable for comment today.Blake White, 20 years old at the time, was a third year pre-law student OU when he was last seen. He had reportedly taken his final exams and was scheduled to return home for a holiday. He never arrived.At one point, four law enforcement agencies were working on White’s disappearance: campussecurity police, Athens police, Athens County Sheriff’s Department and the Ohio State Highway Patrol.Police who entered White’s room after his disappearance found clothing, a wallet containing money, and a half-packed suitcase in his room. A stereo system had been dismantled and was apparently being packed. There was no evidence of violence in the room, police said.Mrs. White told the Register the only things missing were her son’s car keys.White had reportedly experienced difficulty in coping with some classes at the university. However, his mother said her son was not the type of person who would “take off.”A $1,000 reward offered by the family resulted in no new leads and the young White’s auto was never located, despite mammth efforts by law enforcement agencies and a nationwide all-points bulletin on both White and the car.White was descirbed as 6-foot four-inches tall, medium build, brown hair and hazel eyes. He played varisty basketball for bothBLAKE WHITENorwalk and Willard high schools prior to attending Ohio University.
Newspaper Details
Sandusky Register
Sandusky, Ohio, US
Fri, Mar 02, 1979
Page 13
Full Page
Clipped by
Akron S.
OH, USA 16 Oct 2023
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