Copyright NBC10 Boston
The FBI and Vermont State Police have now joined the search for a missing Middlebury College student who was last seen on Friday night. Middlebury police posted an update on Facebook on Wednesday saying they had asked state police to activate its search and rescue team and other resources to join the ongoing search for 21-year-old Middlebury senior Lia Smith. They said New York State Police and the FBI are also assisting in the search. The first full-scale search involving the Vermont State Police team will take place on Thursday, following a ground search that was conducted Wednesday by Middlebury police and fire and U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents. That search focused on wooded areas on and adjacent to the Middlebury campus. Numerous aerial searches using drones have also been conducted. Middlebury College has said they are working closely with police and have been in touch with Smith's family and friends to offer support and learn more about her recent activities and whereabouts. "We will do everything we can to find Lia," the school said in a Facebook post on Monday. "She is a beloved member of our Middlebury family and there is nothing more important than the health, safety, and wellbeing of our students and of our entire community. We know it can be difficult to experience this uncertainty and we will provide regular updates and share more information as it becomes available." Police said Smith is 5'11" and weighs 160 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. She is from California and previously competed on the Middlebury women's swimming and diving team. The Middlebury Campus, the school's student newspaper, said Smith's father filed a missing persons report on Sunday afternoon after not hearing back from her via her cellphone and communicating with her friends, who said they hadn't seen her since 9 p.m. Friday. Anyone with information on Smith's whereabouts is asked to contact Middlebury police at 802-388-3191or submit an online tip at https://middlebury.pub/3WPmNkP. People also can call the Vermont State Police barracks in New Haven at 802-388-4919 or send an anonymous tip to https://middlebury.pub/3Wk7noK. Middlebury College, located in the town of Middlebury in western Vermont, is a private liberal arts college with a student population around 2,800.
