HUNTINGDON - Hundreds of volunteers combed through about 300 acres of land and water searching for a missing Michigan State University graduate student at Raystown Lake's Juniata College Field Station this weekend.
The Huntingdon County Emergency Management Agency conducted multiple searches for 21-year-old Aaron Riley, who was last seen Saturday evening and reported missing Sunday morning. He was still missing at about 9:30 p.m. Sunday evening.
The search was ongoing at that time and searchers were re-assessing the situation, Juniata College's Interim Director of Public Safety Roy Nagle said.
Riley, who according to his university's website is from Okemos, Michigan, was among a conference group visiting the school, Juniata College spokesman John Wall said.
Foul play was not suspected, Nagle said, and he politely declined to speculate on what might have happened to the student.
"Certainly time is not on our side right now," he said.
The 5-foot-seven-inch, 155-pound Riley is described as having an average build, brown hair and blue eyes. He was last seen at 7 p.m. Saturday on the swimming dock wearing a pair of red swimming trunks, a search and rescue report stated.
He reportedly went swimming Saturday evening, and several witnesses thought they saw him leave the lake and head toward a log house where he was staying on the field station property, Wall and Nagle said.
Riley's shoes and watch were found on the dock, but it wasn't known if the items were left from the evening before, Wall said.
Riley's father traveled by airplane to Harrisburg International Airport, where he was picked up by a Juniata College employee, he said.
Riley is listed as having a pre-existing condition which may result in memory loss and/or disorientation.
Nagle declined to comment further on the condition.
Twenty different teams from fire companies, rescue dogs, diving teams and a woman on a horse all joined the search, he said. Juniata College safety officers and some faculty members also helped in the search, Wall said. A counselor from the college was also on the scene.
The field station is 365 acres near Raystown Lake where students study subjects such as conservation biology and vertebrate zoology.
Nagle praised the volunteers, first responders and the Huntingdon County Emergency Management Agency.
State police at Huntingdon are also investigating.
Mirror Staff Writer Amanda Clegg is at 949-7030.
