Search for missing Purdue student moves to Geist - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

Hamilton County - The search for a missing Purdue freshman turned to Geist Reservoir Monday evening. Patrick Trainor, 19, was last heard from early Sunday morning.

Family members say Trainor went to a going away party for a friend Saturday night in the Geist area. He was last heard from hours later.

Monday evening, dive teams with Fishers Police searched Geist Reservoir near the Olio Road bridge. Sgt. Randy McFarland told Eyewitness News the last cell phone "ping signal" received from Trainor's phone was transmitted from the area around Geist.

Indiana State Police used a helicopter to fly over the area again Tuesday morning. Around noon, a passing officer thought he saw a hubcap in a retention pond. It turned out to be an overflow drain, but divers went into the water anyway. They found nothing, but are following every possible lead.

"Very serious. No doubt whatsoever on that," said Sgt. McFarland. "We feel the family's anxiety, each one of us do. We're taking it absolutely seriously and we encourage everybody to do the same."

Police are also trying to gather surveillance video from businesses in the area, hoping to capture a glimpse of Trainor on the tapes.

Friends and family are in the McCordsville/Fortville area searching on their own. They are distributing flyers with Trainor's picture on them.

"All of his friends are looking for him, sending emails," said Don Trainor, Pat's father. "Everyone's racking their brain trying to track him down. It's so atypical. Like I said, Pat would send literally 5,000 text messages a month so figure that out in a day - it's like 100 a day or something. So his friends were well connected and no one has heard anything from him since 1:21 am Sunday morning, late Saturday night."

Indiana State Police are assisting the Fishers Police Department, which is the lead agency in the investigation into Pat Trainor's disappearance. They are also looking for his car, a green 1999 Ford Mustang with damage to the driver's side.

Family members say Trainor was last seen wearing blue jeans and a blue and white plaid button-up style shirt.

Trainor's brother, Matt, says Patrick is six feet tall, weighing 140 pounds and may have been letting his beard grow out a little. Like many college students, his family says he is attached to his cell phone and computer almost day and night.

"All of his belongings, his computer, which he uses for everything, his clothes and so forth, they are still at my mom's house on the southside of Indianapolis. He would not have gone back to Purdue," said Matt Trainor. "He has never done anything like this before. Never been missing, all of his friends remarked even at school, when he is not with the parents, that he still tells people where he is going, texts people where he has gotten and all of that."

"I've worked with Dr. Trainor for several days now and he's a good man and hate to see his son disappear like this," said Aaron Vancleve, a family friend. "So getting out there and helping him, hopefully we'll find his son."

Instead of going on spring break last week, Trainor was at his mother's house, recovering from a hernia surgery.

"[He] had stopped taking the medicine, except to go to sleep and was feeling much better on Saturday. It was the first time he could go out," Trainor's brother said.

So for the first time in ten days, he was able to get out and that was the last time anyone saw him or heard from Trainor. Now, dozens of people are searching for him.

"Probably 60 or more as we speak and probably hundreds of people have been contacted and talked to, anything they know," said Matt Trainor.

The family's concern is shared on the Purdue campus.

"[The university] put out a news release here on campus, make people aware of it. People are very sad about this," said spokesperson Jeanne Norberg. "Certainly his roommate, the members of the fraternity he's rushing. They're very concerned."

"Everybody's been talking about it. Kind of worried, like, when is he going to show up again?" said one student.

Trainor, a freshman agricultural student, was due back on campus Monday after spring break, but didn't show. Purdue hopes anyone with information comes forward.

His family has organized a search of all neighborhoods around the house and have set up a Facebook page to give information and keep updates on the search, hoping something turns up.

"The Facebook page has been a great way to communicate, because a lot of people are going out on their own and just keeping aware," said friend Kelly Jannasch. "It's a great way for those people that aren't coming to the Trainor's house or coming out here to communicate where they're looking."

Fishers Police are asking anyone with information about Trainor's whereabouts to call them (317) 773-1282 during the overnight hours and (317)595-3328 after 8:30 Wednesday morning.