Page 8 The Behrend Beacon Mystery of missing student deepens at Penn State by Marc Schogol Knight Ridder Newspapers It’s been months since anyone has seen or heard from Pennsylvania State Uni versity senior Cindy Song, and nobody has a clue where she is. Song, 21, was last seen by a friend who drove her back to her off-campus apart ment complex after a Halloween party that spilled into the early morning hours of Nov. 1. Since Song was reported missing by friends three days later, local police and the FBI have conducted air searches, ground searches and dog searches of this hilly, wooded, rural portion of central Pennsylvania. Missing-person flyers and posters de scribing the 5-foot-3, 110-pound Song have been widely posted and distributed. Investigators have questioned Song’s friends and acquaintances and checked her phone, Internet, credit card and ATM records - and tips, including a possible sighting in Philadelphia. The university community is offering a total of $27,000 for information. But no trace of Song has been found. It’s not unusual for college students to disappear for a day or two, Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon said. “They go away with a roommate or make other plans and don't tell their fam ily and friends,” he said. “A day or two. After that, you know something’s wrong." The last similar case anyone at Penn State can recall was in March 1987, when a female student was found slain in an off-campus apartment. The crime was never solved. Hyun Jong “Cindy" Song, who is from Seoul, South Korea, came to the United States seven years ago to stay with rela tives near Alexandria, Va. Song went to high school there and then went to Penn State, majoring in integrative arts. She had many friends, especially among the university's Korean community. Since her disappearance, Song’s mother has come here from Korea sev eral times. Song’s brother, Kiho Song, Lar 26, has temporarily moved here from Korea to monitor the investigation, of which he has become critical. In the weeks after Cindy Song’s disap pearance, there was much concern among fellow students - especially members of the student Black Caucus, which is espe cially sensitive to the experience of mi- PHOTO COURTESY OF PENN STATE UNIVERSITY Penn State University student Cindy Song (Hyun J. Song) has been missing since Nov. 1. nority students on an overwhelmingly white campus. But over time, the general level of awareness and interest has mostly van ished - as have most of the posters put up all over campus that urged anyone with information to call police at 800-479- 0050. “It concerns me, but I’m not especially afraid,” Melissa Pothering, 20, a junior psychology major from Pottsville, Pa., said last week of Song’s disappearance. With a new term, students have other pressing matters that demand their atten tion, Pothering said. “It’s like 1’ ve gradually put it in the back of my mind. It’s just one thing that hap pened to happen. If it happened more than once, I would be concerned.” Kiho Song is very unhappy about that kind of attitude and about the investiga- Behrend College Special! ge 14-i zza & two bottles of NATIONAL CAMPUS NEWS Friday, March 15, 2002 tion. He has complained to the South Korean Consulate in New York, several Korean TV news crews that have reported on the disappearance, and anyone else who will listen. While they understand the family’s frustration and anguish, investigators say they have done everything possible - in cluding running down bogus tips. On Jan. 18, an area resident reported getting a middle-of-the-night call from a young woman who gave her name as “Cindy” and said: “My place is a mess and my leg is bleeding,” then hung up. Police traced the call to two teen-age girls, who were charged Jan. 21 with dis orderly conduct. “We want people to know we’re tak ing this very seriously,” said Ferguson Township Detective Brian Sprinkle, the local police officer heading the investi- Sprinkle is frustrated, too. “We have no clues, no leads,” he said. Investigators have even sent information on the case to America's Most Wanted in hopes that the TV show, which has helped find missing and wanted people, will do a segment on Song's disappearance. Sprinkle is convinced that “somebody out there knows something about the dis appearance.” Or that somebody might have seen something. “That’s the thing,” Sprinkle said. “Somebody might not re alize what they saw, didn’t think twice about it and still might not think about it, but publicity might jog their memory: ‘Hey, I did see something that was suspi cious!"’ What “it” was that somebody may have seen, nobody knows. Sprinkle makes a point of saying “there are no clues or evi dence suggesting that crimes were com mitted.” But with each passing day, it’s harder not to think the worst. Was someone waiting for Song at her apartment that night? Did someone come after she returned? Had she arranged to meet someone? Did she run out to a nearby all-night supermarket and get ab ducted? Did she actually enter her apartment, nch which was otherwise empty because her roommate was away? Police said they believe Song did go into the apartment, where they found the backpack and cell phone she’d had with her at the party. But Song’s brother theorizes that some one else could have put those items there. Was substance use or abuse a factor? Song’s brother said his sister’s diary in dicated she and some friends had experi mented with marijuana and Ecstasy. Police say that Song and friends had been drinking at the Halloween party and that Song had been slightly intoxicated, but that there was no indication of any drug use that night, or that Song was im paired when she returned to her apart ment. Was Song’s breakup with a boyfriend about a month before her disappearance a factor? The brother believes it could have been. But police and one of Song’s roommates, Youngjoo Kim, a 21-year old sophomore from Radnor, Pa., said Song was getting over the breakup. In any case, police said there was no indi cation that the former boyfriend was in any way involved in Song’s disappear ance. Could Song have committed suicide or just decided to run away? Song’s brother said he can't imagine either scenario. Investigators will say only that they continue to pursue all pos sibilities. Kiho Song continues to worry and “Police investigators at this point are deadlocked,” he said, through a univer sity-provided translator, during an inter view last week in the university’s student center. “Like everyone else," Kiho Song said, “they need to renew their attention to this case. I’m trying to make everyone aware, to ask anyone for help.” His mother and other members of his family have suffered greatly through this “tragedy,” he said. “What makes it even sadder,” he said, “is that nobody knows exactly what that tragedy was. cheese 20 oz. pop Student dies giving birth in dorm bathroom by Nahal Toosi Milwaukee Journal Sentinel By most appearances, Karen Marie Hubbard showed great promise. She graduated at the top of her high school class and participated in many school activities, including band and basketball. The 19-year-old freshman was attending the University of Wis consin-Eau Claire as a pre-pharmacy major and was flourishing academi cally. One acquaintance said Hubbard had "success written all over her." Early Wednesday morning, Hubbard died after giving birth to a baby in her dormitory bathroom. "It's just very tragic and frustrat ing," said Chuck Major, the university's director of housing and residence life. "I only wish Karen had cried out for help." According to Major, Tuesday night Hubbard went to the bathroom in her all-women residence hall. Her room mate checked on her repeatedly, as did other students. They heard noises and asked Hubbard if something was wrong, but she said she was just feel ing sick. After she stopped replying, the students found a resident assistant in the dorm and called emergency ser- in the bathroom stall, the students found Hubbard, who was not breath ing and had no pulse, and a newborn baby. The students performed CPR on Hubbard and the baby, as did emer gency medical workers. The baby was airlifted to St. Joseph's Hospital in Marshfield, Wis. As of Wednesday afternoon, the baby girl remained in critical condition, a hospital spokeswoman said. The hos pital refused to release any other in formation, but Major said it was be lieved the baby had been carried to full term, weighing somewhere be tween 7 and 9 pounds. Hubbard was transported from the dormitory to a nearby hospital. At one $ 6 ■ 9 9p»« Free Delivery! 897-1818 Guy Reschenthaler, Wire Service Editor while point in the emergency room, hospi tal workers successfully revived her, but as they tried to take her to inten sive care, Hubbard suffered from car diac arrest, Major said. She later died. Apparently, nobody knew Hubbard was pregnant. Her roommate told authorities that Hubbard had gained some weight, but that it did not seem significant. Ma jor said. He added that it is possible that Hubbard did not even know she was pregnant. ”1 didn't know her personally, but from the staff I’ve talked to she was a very nice, personable young student," Major said. "Academically she was doing extremely well." Michael Carney, who taught Hubbard in a chemistry lab last se mester, said he had no idea the young woman was pregnant. "There was no change from Sep tember to December that was obvi ous," Carney said. Although a woman dying during childbirth is rare in the United States, a woman denying she is pregnant is "not uncommon," said Sheldon Wasserman, a Democratic state leg islator from Milwaukee and a prac ticing obstetrician-gynecologist. "You have situations where women are so upset about being pregnant, they deny it to themselves, they deny it to their friends and family," said Wasserman, who is not involved in the Hubbard case. "They wear baggy clothes, pretend they're putting on weight. Unfortunately, the denial is so bad that they delude themselves into thinking they're getting fat. They're in a terrible situation." The cause of Hubbard's death re mained under investigation pending an autopsy, Eau Claire County Medi cal Examiner John Folstad said. It is believed she died of complications related to childbirth, he said.
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