In a missing persons case that continues to get national media attention, 100 volunteers searched yesterday for a missing University of Wisconsin-Madison student. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said police have turned up little new information and don’t have evidence that a crime has been committed. Audrey Seiler, 20, was last seen leaving her apartment at 2:30 a.m. Saturday.
Madison Police Captain Luis Yudice said, “Her leaving the apartment, at that particular time of day, and the condition in which we found her residence, is not consistent with her normal behavior patterns.” On Feb. 1, she was struck from behind while walking near her apartment and knocked unconscious without ever seeing her attacker. Experts in violence against women said it’s not unusual for a target of a stalker not to know she is being followed. The impact of her February head injury is another possible tie to her disappearance, Yudice said. A reaction could develop gradually over the course of several days or weeks, said Gregory O’Shanick of the Brain Injury Association of America in McLean, Va. Taking a severe blow to the head could make it harder for a normally well-balanced person to cope with the pressures of daily life, he said.