Audrey Seiler Found ALIVE!!!

[granolagirl]

If any of you have been following the missing University of Wisconsin-Madison student case, she has been found alive!!!

http://images.ibsys.com/2004/0331/2963759_200X150.jpg

They are currently searching for a suspect, but she's OK. Here's a link:

Audrey Seiler Found Alive (http://www.channel3000.com/news/2963633/detail.html)

:D

[HealthyinMN]

Wow thats such great news!

[jmarie]

PRAISE GOD ! ! ! Can you imagine the joy and jubilation going on with her and her family and friends, right now? This is just too awsome!
Joyce

[Kayla]

Good God, I had heard about that. Thank goodness she's all right.

[Jessica]

This is terrific news. It is wonderful when a story like this has a good ending.

[SueK]

I'm glad to hear this! I just saw the news article this morning when she was still missing. Thank goodness she was found alive.

[granolagirl]

Here's an update on the story (http://www.channel3000.com/news/2964467/detail.html).

[Gilgamesh37]

I am glad she's home and safe <snip> I'll be very interested to hear the whole story when it comes out

(edited because I realized I might upset people and that was not my intent)

[granolagirl]

Hmmmm.....another update:


Audrey Seiler Changes Story

BREAKING NEWS:Audrey Seiler now says that she was not abducted from her Regent Street Apartment Saturday.

However, she now says that she was abducted from another place in the city at knife-point.

The University of Wisconsin student who has been the focus of national attention all week changed her story when police confronted her with "inconsistencies" in her story, said acting Madison Police Chief Noble Wray at a press conference this morning.
Channel 3000

and from MSNBC:

MADISON, Wis. - A University of Wisconsin student who said she was abducted from her apartment by a knife-wielding man recanted her story when confronted with inconsistencies between her account and other evidence, police said Friday. But she continues to say that she was later kidnapped at knifepoint by the man pictured in a police sketch.


At a news conference, Madison Deputy Police Chief Noble Wray said that 20-year-old Audrey Seiler admitted to police that she left her apartment early Saturday morning because she “just wanted to be alone.”

But she said that as she visited different locations in the city, she was abducted by the man shows in a police sketch released Thursday. It was not clear how long after her disappearance the reported kidnapping occurred. Citing the continuing investigation, Wray declined to take any questions seeking to clarify the timeline.

Earlier, a police spokesman told NBC News that they would announce “breaking investigative news” at the news conference that would result in a significant change in the story. The spokesman would not elaborate on the nature of the news

[Jazzmatazz49]

My friend the cop says this is a classic drug-buying mishap. The story never did ring true, glad she's alive.

[Dishie]

Per CNN Breaking News:
-- Citing inconsistencies in her account, police say they believe there is no suspect at large in reported kidnapping of Wisconsin college student. Watch CNN or log on to http://CNN.com for the latest news.

[kristalsnow7]

I thought this didn't add up when I read about it yesterday. I imagine she's suffering from some mental problems. In any case, I'm glad that she is safe and at home with her family.

[jjsooner73]

From this AJC article:
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/National/AP.V9207.AP-Missing-Student.html



Seiler told police her abductor used duct tape, rope and a knife against her.

But Wray said police obtained videotape of Seiler buying some of those items at a
local store weeks earlier.

She also used her computer to search Web sites for information on Madison parks and
the extended weather forecast, suggesting she had planned her disappearance, Wray
said.

Wray said the search of her computer also indicated someone had used it during the
four days Seiler was missing, and at least two witnesses said they had seen her
walking freely in the city during that time.

``It's the totality of the picture,'' Wray said.

My thoughts lean towards some sort of mental illness, as well. Or drugs? Regardless, I'm glad she was found and feel for her family for having to go through this. I hope she is OK.

[bobmark226]

And nobody, all these people we got to watch on TV with those big face pins with her picture on their chests, had any clue she had these kinds of problems? Her family, friends, everyone flatly denied such a thing was possible.

Probably a minority opinion here, but I think it's about time we stopped making major news stories every time some middleclass white girl disappears!

This country is getting nuttier and nuttier, I swear. Time to go back to things like stuffing people into phone boths, goldfish swallowing and flagpole sitting.

BOB

[Escher]

I've done two of the three above...


Anyhow...

Amazing how everyone rushes to protect this dork:.... "she probably has mental problems... or she has drug problems...."

Naturally, no evidence is needed to elicit your sypmathy.

How about she's a tool who left her friends and family high and dry? And she seems to be not very straightforward to the police!

I second the notion that this is much ado about a well-to-do attractive white girl. This is not news folks.....

WOLF! WOLF! WOLF!

[Escher]

bump.

[Jessica]

This girl obviously has some problems and I hope she gets help. But filing a false police report is a crime, and for good reason. These cops (not to mention friends and family members) spent hours and hours searching for her and looking for leads, when they could have spent that time helping folks who really needed police assistance. These cases also detract public energy from real kidnappings and disappearances.

[kima]

Can anyone tell me or remember any case of a missing black child/ young adult that has got major national attention in the States? I have not heard of one in many years. I have always thought if you are ever to go mising you better be an attractive young white female if you want media attention.
Hate to be so cynical but that's the way it seems to be .:(

[gertdog]

I'd guess that anyone who pulls a stunt like this has some problems beyond just wanting attention, whether it's drug addiction or mental illness or something else. I don't see that as a defense, just as a possible explanation for her behavior (rather than an excuse).

I agree that it's a terrible waste of resources and heartache for the police and friends and family who were searching for her.

I don't have a problem with disappearances being reported in the news, but I do think it's sad that a hugely disproportionate amount of the publicity focuses on such a small percentage of the victims.

[jmarie]

On a side note:


stuffing people into phone boths

Has to be a thing of the past that cannot be revisited...doesn't everyone have cell phones, now!

Joyce

[jjsooner73]

Originally posted by gertdog
I agree that it's a terrible waste of resources and heartache for the police and friends and family who were searching for her.


If in fact this whole thing was a hoax, she could very well end up being ordered to pay for the resources used in her search.

And yeah, it's to bad that cases like hers and Elizabeth Smart, etc. are plastered all over the TV. Wait a minute, that helped the latter be captured alive. Geez, and what's wrong with that? And I'm sure the families of Dru Sjodin and the girl in Texas, Rachel Cooke think their cases are much ado about nothing as well?

I do wish we heard more of others who go missing...but not at the expense of the 'pretty white girls'.

And I can think of a few cases involving young black girls--one involved the Baby Doe whose head was found somewhere in the Midwest. Another was the missing girl in FL who was in the Foster Care system. And yet another in FL involved a black newborn, born to a teenage year old mom, stolen from a hospital by someone posing to be a nurse.

I read the news to much. :rolleyes:

[Escher]

I do wish we heard more of others who go missing...
I don't think so:

From a compilation of official records:
http://www.newsaic.com/mwcrime.html

Stereotypical kidnappings (a.k.a. stranger abductions) (200-300 a year)

Runaways (450,700 "broad scope" a year, and 133,500 "policy focal")

Legal-definition non-family abductions (3,200-4,600 successful abductions a year, with about 114,600 children experiencing an attempted non-family abduction a year)

Family abductions (354,100 "broad scope" a year, and 163,200 "policy focal").


Let's see, that's about 2,600 missing kids per day....

In short, we don't have the attention span to warrant these cases to get national exposure...it is far too common an event...

Even the sterotypical kidnappings alone is a daily event....

[Robyncz]

As many of you know, my husband works with Robert Cooke, the father of missing Rachel Cooke. While something like this is a "human interest story" to most of us, the completely unexplained loss of a child is a something the Cooke family lives with every single day. I think they would have given just about anything to get national media coverage in those first days--but there was no "angle" that the national media outlets were interested in. Technically, since she was over 18, she was not a minor. She wasn't pregnant. There were no sordid exciting details to dig up about her past. Her family was neither rich nor poor. They are regular people. Just like you and I. So nobody cared. It is quite possible that getting her name and picture out in the first 24 hours she was missing could have changed everything, but we'll never know.

So, for those of you "tired" of hearing about missing middle-class white girls on the news, let me say I would gladly give up every "news" story about Bennifer, Janet Jackson, and Martha Stewart to see Rachel's beautiful face again. . .

And about Audrey Seiler. If she staged this, she clearly has some serious issues to deal with, but once she's done, I hope she has some understanding and remorse for the pain she has caused her own family and the families of other missing people across the country.

[Escher]

Originally posted by Robyncz
So, for those of you "tired" of hearing about missing middle-class white girls on the news, let me say I would gladly give up every "news" story about Bennifer, Janet Jackson, and Martha Stewart to see Rachel's beautiful face again. . .


If a network were devoted to nothing but airing details of felony crimes in hopes of resolving cases, it
A) could only devote 22 seconds to each crime, assuming it runs w/o commercials
B) would fail as a business
C) would fail as a means of catching criminals

Police solve crimes, not televisions.

I don't know how to soften this, so I'll just say it bluntly:
Maybe you would give up Hollywood news stories, but Americans as a whole won't.

(PS--I don't mean to be cruel, I'm just talking the issue over)

[Robyncz]

I don't mean to be cruel, I'm just talking the issue over) [/B]

Oh, I'm sure you're not. Just being compassionate and thoughtful as always.

There are times in life when statistics and arguing for the sake of arguing become completely irrelevant. As I mentioned before, this is a far-removed topic for most of you. For someone with a missing family member, it's an entirely different story.

You may "talk over the issue" all you want when it's hypothetical. For the Cooke family and many others, it's more than a news story. It's real life.

[SandyM]

Originally posted by Robyncz
So, for those of you "tired" of hearing about missing middle-class white girls on the news, let me say I would gladly give up every "news" story about Bennifer, Janet Jackson, and Martha Stewart to see Rachel's beautiful face again. . .

Agreed.

[jjsooner73]

Robyn, when I saw your post about the cookbook for Rachel, I thought it odd that I hadn't heard about her, since Dallas isn't all that far from Austin. I am a news junkie, and usually do notice the missing person stories. When I was in HS, a girl I grew up with was abducted from a convenience store near her house. They found her 4 days later in a creek bed, fairly near my parent's house. I guess that event planted something in me that makes me notice these things.

Yes, she was a bright, beautiful caucasian girl, but the media didn't really grab on to her story until a few days later, and then it was only local.

[granolagirl]

I'm not sure why *this* story has gotten all of the national attention it has. It's been on local news constantly, but that's a bit different, I think. At first I thought it got all of the attention because of Dru Sjodin, the fear of another college student missing, etc. Then, I think as the story got more bizarre, the media really wanted it then. Looks like it will be on Dateline tonight.

[SueK]

Originally posted by granolagirl
I'm not sure why *this* story has gotten all of the national attention it has.

In addition to some of the reasons posted above, I thought maybe it got more media attention due to the fact that she (allegedly, now, of course) been attacked earlier this year. Because of that, it certainly seemed like someone may have been stalking her.

I certainly hope she gets help after all this. It's a very sad situation.

[HejazSunKat]

Originally posted by SueK
In addition to some of the reasons posted above, I thought maybe it got more media attention due to the fact that she (allegedly, now, of course) been attacked earlier this year. Because of that, it certainly seemed like someone may have been stalking her.

Actually, that, and the fact that they had her on video walking - hale and hearty - out of her dorm is what made me a bit skeptical of the kidnapping story. I thought if anything they'd find out she was a runaway. I mean, I've managed to get to the ripe old age of 44 without being knocked unconscious AND kidnapped all within the space of 2 months - as do most people. I hope they do get to the bottom of what her motive was for doing this. Not only were the police and other resources misused (and I read today the search cost about $70,000) but the public was left wondering if there was a crazed kidnapper on the loose. So now we can all go back to worrying about terrorism. :rolleyes: :(

[kima]

I am not "tired" of hearing about missing people- not at all. If publicity helps find someone I am all for it. I was just questioning why certain people get more media attention than others.
I wholeheartdely agree about the celeb stories!:)