By Grace Lyden
Forum News Service
FARGO - Looking south of campus and in the Red River, police here expanded the search Monday for an 18-year-old North Dakota State University freshman who has been missing since early Saturday.
Police dogs, officers and firefighters on Monday canvassed the area a few blocks south of the NDSU campus where Tommy Bearson of Sartell was last seen, said Lt. Joel Vettel of the Fargo Police Department, which is leading the investigation of Bearson’s disappearance.
Bearson is 6 feet 1 inch tall, 155 pounds with blond hair and blue eyes. Vettel said he was last seen wearing a baseball hat, a blue Sartell High School track and field shirt and khaki pants.
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At 5 p.m. Monday, Fargo police posted on the department’s Facebook page that, “Up to this point, we have actively searched areas we believe Thomas could have been.” Police also indicated the search area was expanded to the south of Eighth Avenue North.
Bearson was last seen about 3:40 a.m. Saturday in the 800 block of 14th Street North, Vettel said. He said police and firefighters were conducting a “methodical” grid-style search Monday from that area toward campus - where Bearson, a nursing student, lived in Reed Hall dormitory.
The area where Bearson was last seen is about six blocks south of his dorm. It was searched previously, but Monday’s canvassing marked the beginning of a more in-depth search, Vettel said.
Firefighters also began a cursory search of the Red River on Monday afternoon, though there’s no evidence to connect Bearson to the river - which is more than a mile to the east of campus.
“That’s just based on the lack of information we have,” Vettel said of the river search.
About 6 p.m., police said via social media that authorities had concluded a search of the river from 35th Avenue South to 12th Avenue North.
A missed ride
Bearson, a standout basketball player at Sartell High School, where he graduated last spring, was reported missing by his family at about 5:30 p.m. on Saturday after he failed to catch a ride from Fargo to see his family in Sartell. The plan had been to leave at noon, but he never showed up, Vettel said.
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Jake Moryn, a freshman who lives across the hall from Bearson in the dorm, said the friends who were going to meet Bearson thought he might be not feeling well from the night before and “didn’t think anything of it” when he didn’t show.
They tried to call him, but he didn’t answer his phone, Moryn said. Moryn was not in this group, but his roommate was.
Bearson’s disappearance was first publicly reported by NDSU on Sunday night.
Authorities say they have no reason to think foul play is involved.
Witnesses have said Bearson was in good spirits before he went missing, said NDSU Police Chief William Vandal.
“We have information that he was in a good mood and everything seemed to be fine,” Vandal said at a Monday afternoon news conference with Vettel.
Authorities aren’t sure yet if alcohol was involved. Vandal said it was a possibility, but not confirmed.
Just over a week ago and not far from his dorm, Bearson was arrested for driving under the influence and minor in possession.
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Early Sept. 12, an officer pulled Bearson over for driving west in an eastbound lane in the 1700 block of 15th Avenue North, a few blocks from Reed Hall, according to court papers.
A breath test found that Bearson’s blood-alcohol level was 0.18 percent. He failed one field sobriety test, and because of his poor balance at the time, two others were not given for safety reasons, court papers said.
He pleaded guilty to both misdemeanors later that day and was ordered to pay $1,075, serve 36 hours of community service and receive a chemical dependency evaluation, court papers said.
Seen after tweet
A fellow student said earlier Monday that he saw Bearson shortly before 4 a.m. Saturday, hours after the missing student tweeted that he was lost and needed a ride.
The last tweet from Bearson’s Twitter account was sent at 1:23 a.m. Saturday and reads, “dude it’s jake come pick us up.” It also reads, “We are so lost and we are going to die. Just get somebody.”
In an interview Monday, the recipient of the tweet, Cody Mead, said Bearson and “Jake” found a ride to Mead’s house in north Fargo after that tweet.
“Jake” refers to Mead’s roommate, Jake Wenzel, who went to high school with Bearson, Mead said. Mead met Bearson for the first time that night.
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Mead said after Wenzel and Bearson arrived at his house in north Fargo, they “hung out for a while” before Bearson left between 3:40 and 4 a.m. That was the last time Mead saw Bearson before he heard that he was missing Saturday afternoon, he said.
Bearson’s cellphone is either off or out of battery, but police are working with his phone company to see if cellphone records can be used to help pin down the student’s whereabouts, Vettel said.
Police and other authorities have been “throwing a number of resources” at the investigation, interviewing witnesses and vetting tips from the public, Vettel said.
“That’s really law enforcement 101,” he said.
Officials have been in constant contact with Bearson’s family, who have been cooperative and supportive, Vettel said.
The St. Francis Xavier parish in Sartell is hosting a community prayer service for Bearson at 7 tonight. The student’s parents are members of the parish, and his mother teaches at the school.
The church is at 2nd St. N. in Sartell. All are welcome. People can also watch online at www.ustream.tv/channel/st-francis-xavier .
The St. Cloud Times contributed to this report.
