Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 5, 1994 TAG: 9402050062
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
After eating, Alexander said he had to go somewhere. He has not been seen by friends since.
Norman Alexander, Stephen's father, has come to Blacksburg from Florida to search for his missing son.
Did his son just decide to take a break from a rigorous project he was working on? Did trouble with a new roommate cause him to leave? Or has his son been harmed by someone?
Stephen Alexander, a materials and ceramics engineering graduate student, was working on an important project with an April deadline. It is unlike him to leave his work, his lap-top computer and other things behind, his father said.
His son even left his key ring behind and apparently did not take a coat with him.
Also of concern to Norman Alexander is that his son withdrew $1,000 from his bank account in Blacksburg.
Alexander is worried that someone has hurt his son or forced him to disappear. His son's work involved weaponry research, he said.
Michael Alexander and David Alexander, Stephen's brother and uncle, joined Norman Alexander this week in putting up fliers around the university community.
"It's helping, because we think we got a lead from Burger King," Norman Alexander said. A worker at the Turner Street Burger King says Stephen Alexander was there Friday at 6 a.m. and ordered a breakfast sandwich.
Norman Alexander said if the employee really saw his son, it changes the focus of the search. "We didn't think he was in town at all," Michael Alexander said.
Stephen Alexander's car is missing. His father said he may have used a spare key he carried in his wallet to get into the car, a 1985 four-door copper-colored Dodge Lancer.
Alexander will turn 25 on Feb. 19. He is 6-foot-4, 275 pounds. He has hazel-brown eyes and had a three-week growth of beard and mustache. He also has a brown mole on his neck.
Tech police have issued an advisory to other police agencies to be on the lookout for Alexander, and information about him has been entered into a national police information network.
The family can be contacted in Florida at (813) 579-0294. Locally, any information should be forwarded to the Virginia Tech Police Department, 231-6411.
The Alexanders packed up Stephen's belongings Thursday from his apartment, including a stocked aquarium.
"Tell him his fish are waiting on him," Norman Alexander said.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.