OKLAHOMA CITY -- Rice University officials plan to continue searching over the holidays for a student from Oklahoma who hasn't been seen for about a week.
Matthew Wilson, a 20-year-old computer science major from Haworth, was last seen Dec. 15 and didn't show up Wednesday to turn in final projects.
"Matthew is a good student, so this behavior was atypical," said Bill Taylor, Rice University police chief. "Matthew's roommate had alerted us Tuesday that Matthew had not been back to the apartment since Saturday around noon, so these two factors together caused concern."
The roommate noticed that Wilson's backpack and car were missing from their off-campus Houston apartment and thought Wilson was at the library. But when he called his roommate, he discovered that Wilson's cell phone was still in their apartment, investigators said.
Cathy Wilson said her son was supposed to arrive in Tulsa by Friday to spend the holidays at his sister's house. He hasn't been in contact with his family since his disappearance. His mother said she last saw him when he came home for Thanksgiving.
Wilson's mother said her son was an honor student with an A average. It wasn't unusual for him to ignore phone calls or e-mails while studying for finals, but he never would have missed the deadline for exams, she said.
Rice spokesman J.B. Almond said that university offices closed Friday for the holiday but police would remain on campus and pursue leads in his disappearance.
Houston Crime Stoppers is expected to announce a $5,000 reward for information leading to filing of felony charges in the case.
"We want to emphasize that we have no evidence to suggest a crime has been committed," Taylor said. "But to allow for that possibility, Crime Stoppers is offering the reward because the information can be provided anonymously."
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