Dean of the Auburn School of Veterinary Medicine, Tim Boosinger, spoke at a press conference Tuesday and said he and the University are holding on to hope that missing student, Michael Harrie, will return safely to his family.
"We are very concerned for Michael and will continue to be concerned till he is safe," Boosinger said. "Right now we have no direct leads except that he has been declared a missing person and as of now no foul play has been suspected."
Boosinger said Harrie's parents made a good decision in hiring a private investigator to help in the search. In addition to the investigator, Auburn sent Chance Corbett, associate director of Emergency Management, and Donna Angarano, associate dean of Auburn's School of Veterinary Medicine to assist the family in Tokyo. The family is now back in California.
Boosinger said the mood around the University is one of confusion.
"We don't know why he went to Thailand other than for a sight seeing trip, but we have no idea why he did not return to Japan to meet up with his parents," Boosinger said.
Boosinger also said that he believes this to be a mistake on Michael's part.
"Young people like to travel," Boosinger said. "(Michael) made some bad choices to travel to a different county, alone, and away from the safety of the program."
Michael was last seen on airport surveillance tapes July 14 arriving at the airport in Thailand to leave for Japan and then later leaving the airport, bags still in hand.
Corbett said it is still to early to begin to speculate what happened, but assured media they are following every possible lead and working closely with the authorities in Thailand.
"You hear about some of the Internet stories from Thailand, but I have not been there personally so I don't even know," Corbett said.
Boosinger said the exchange program isn't a concern at the moment.
"We don't have any other students over there and none of their students are here," Boosinger said. "We feel students there are safe, and we don't have any concerns about students going back."
Authorities are stressing friends and students with any type of information that may assist in finding Michael to call the Auburn University Department of Public Safety and Security at 334- 844-8888.
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