By Seamus McGraw

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HAMMOND, Ind. (Crime Library, Feb 28, 2006) —

Donna Haddad, the 24-year-old Calumet College of St. Joseph student who vanished last week after walking out of the school library is safe, a family member told Crime Library this morning. But family members say they're not as certain that she's sound.

"Donna has called in to the authorities," said Willie Haddad, the young woman's brother. "We don't have any idea where she is, but she's okay. There's a lot of different scenarios here and we're not exactly sure what happened, but as far as her being a missing person," that is no longer the case."

The family has greeted the young woman's call with a mixture of relief and puzzlement, Haddad said. While they are ecstatic to learn that Haddad, who is studying to be a teacher and who by all accounts has never been in trouble, is unharmed, they are still trying to figure out what made her run off in the first place.

Family members suspect that she might have run off with someone, but the young woman's brother said the family would withhold judgment until all the facts are in. "As far as I'm concerned, I think she's in trouble," Willie Haddad said, "but she may not think she's in trouble. But what can you do? She's 24 years old. It's a long drawn out process and we're still trying to investigate, get to the bottom of it."

It was not clear whether Donna had any immediate plans to return to the Hammond, Indiana home she shared with her parents and other relatives, he said.

Family members had feared the worst when Haddad disappeared last week. The young woman had told family members that she was planning on doing some research at the school library and a librarian, who remembered her because she had been carrying a bottle of soda, in contravention of library policies, confirmed that she had been there.

But when she failed to return home, family members contacted Hammond police and filed a missing person's report. The case initially attracted some attention among bloggers, who fearing that the young woman might have been abducted or worse publicized it.

Now, however, the family is asking for privacy so they can savor the knowledge that Haddad is safe, and figure out what to do next. "The worst didn't happen, she's all right, and we'd like to just leave it at that," Willie Haddad said.

Contact Seamus McGraw at seamusm@ptd.net

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