Posted on 05/03/2005 6:14:05 PM PDT by Pharmboy
YORK, Pa. (AP) - College student Patrick M. Welsh hopped on a midday train to New York City on April 15, relaxed and in good spirits and carrying a backpack. He reached his destination that day, but police know nothing more about his whereabouts since then. Family and friends have not heard from him, and all authorities have to go on is a call made from Welsh's cell phone by a homeless man April 18.
Those who know the 22-year-old professional writing major are completely baffled by his disappearance.
His close friend said Tuesday that Welsh wasn't the type to go more than a few days without calling his family and would not skip town with final exams approaching.
"This is not typical Pat behavior," said York College junior Greg McCallum, 23, who roomed with Welsh last year. "I'm worried sick about him."
No one is exactly sure why Welsh went to New York.
Police say it is possible the aspiring writer may have wanted to go to New York to do research on the plight of the homeless. Laura Bumgarner, the mother of Welsh's current roommate, drove him to the train station in Harrisburg and said he told her he was going to visit friends at Columbia University.
"I think he fully intended to come back. He seemed relaxed and fine," she said. "It's just strange that someone would disappear off the face of the earth."
Friends describe Welsh as shy and introspective but with a great sense of humor and a fun-loving streak. He is an avid fan of jam bands and followed the All Mighty Senators' tour last summer.
He also has a deep interest in Eastern philosophy and carries a statue of Buddha in his backpack for good luck, friends said.
"He's just a real peace-loving Buddhist hippie," McCallum said.
Welsh, from Sykesville, Md., transferred to York College last spring after attending St. Mary's College of Maryland. He has earned mostly A's and is on track to graduate in December, McCallum said.
"He was a good writer and could express himself in words the way few people can," said York College English professor Dominic F. Delli Carpini, a former teacher. "My hope is that he's out there exploring his world."
Welsh used his cell phone at least once somewhere in Manhattan the night he arrived. Police would not make public whom Welsh called.
Three days later the phone ended up in the hands of John Dennis Koppinger, a homeless man wanted in New Jersey on a 1997 assault charge, Maryland State Police said.
Koppinger, 37, left a message on his father's answering machine in New Jersey on April 18, said Koppinger's niece, Krysten Evans. There has been no activity on the phone since then and police have not located it.
"He had found a cell phone, called my grandfather just to let him know he was OK and then the cell phone cut out or something happened," Evans said.
Koppinger regularly goes months without calling his family and they have no way to contact him, she said.
Missing-person fliers looking for Welsh are posted around Columbia University but police say they have generated no leads.
"We're still very hopeful," Maryland State Police Sgt. Ron Riggin said. "And we certainly haven't run into all our dead ends."
Not to downplay this one, but are we going to make national news out of every disappearance?
Well, one thing is for sure. The MSM won't give this more than a passing glance. Get a runaway bride or a hottie coed disappearing, now that's news.
Maybeee he is chasing runaway bride?
Well, at least the midlle-class youngish folk that disappear without an apparent reason. He might be staying with friends. I just hope the kiddo is ok.
Not all homeless people are harmless. He may have tried to interview somebody who wanted his cellphone, plus his backpack and all the goodies in it. Columbia, where he evidently started out, is on the edge of some pretty dangerous parts of town.
-Don Henley, Eagles, New York Minute
Forgiveable at that tender age; but it probably made him a prime target for perps. Reminds me of Bernie Goetz, but without the gun.
Alert the Nevada Highway Patrol. They always run to Nevada.
Ouch!
The last guy like this turned out to have gotten drunk and fallen into the East River.
Didn't mean to get so morbid, but this story sparked that memory, as I was hanging with the kid the day before he disappeared. Here's hoping this kid is OK.
See #12, are you talking about my former classmate?
This was about 9 years ago.
No, this was a more recent one, about a year ago or less.
At the risk of sounding very hardhearted, these "sensational" disappearances get old when family and friends deny that the "victim" is the type to up and disappear, then later you find out about all the BAGGAGE the person had and how it is SO unsurprising this happened.
The Amber Alert system is under the same sort of threat of becoming irrelevant. Here in Iowa, a young woman called 911 and an Amber Alert was issued just a couple weeks ago. Come to find out, her BOYFRIEND had her 3-year old, she actually had SENT them out to the Mall together, but became alarmed when he did not return when the stores closed. Then, the press finally printed the fact that she admitted to police that her "boyfriend" was a druggie. Sheesh, she sent her kid with him???? (The kid was found unharmed.)
The Amber Alert is going to become useless! And the media and police force need to screen this kind of stuff very carefully.
I wonder if he went undercover to do a piece on the Homeless.
"No, this was a more recent one, about a year ago or less."
Yeah, I remember that more recent guy. Wasn't it even like St. Paddy's day too?
I feel bad for the parents when it's a boy who meets a bad end like this. With the girls you are just always worrying, from day one until you die (hopefully you the parent die first); with the boys you don't ever think a basically good boy will be a crime victim, yet it happens.
Nice way to be positive. Shouldn't that be: "We certainly haven't run down all our leads."
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