By David Lohr
March 20, 2007
WEST LAFAYETTE , Ind. (Crime Library) — A maintenance worker at Purdue University made a startling discovery yesterday afternoon when she found a dead body inside a utility room in Owen Hall. The body has been identified as that of Wade Steffey, 19, a freshman at Purdue who disappeared in January 2007.
200.jpg) |
| Wade Steffey |
According to Jeanne Norberg, a spokeswoman for the university, the maintenance worker had been called to the room after an employee reported hearing a "popping" sound coming from the room.
"The utility worker went in and found a body in this room," Norberg told the Associated Press yesterday. "She was traumatized. It's a very difficult situation for her."
 |
| Crime scene |
University Police alerted the West Lafayette Police Department, and within an hour the area was cordoned off. The utility room houses several high-voltage transformers, so a maintenance worker shut off the building's power so that investigators could move about the inside of the building without the risk of injury.
Crime scene investigators spent about an hour photographing the scene and scouring the room for evidence before they released the body to officials from the Tippecanoe County Coroner's Office. Several men held up a large blue tarp, which blocked the public's view as the body was carried out of the building and placed into the back of a van.
 |
| Police remove body |
According to campus officials, the building was searched thoroughly after Wade's disappearance, but they could not say with any certainty that the utility room had been examined. They were also uncertain of the last time a school employee had accessed the room, which is not accessible from the co-ed residence hall and is supposed to be kept locked at all times.
Yesterday evening, Norberg held a press conference at the university; however, she had few details to share. At the time, she was unable to tell reporters the gender, race, or age of the person found in the utility room, and she would not comment on the condition of the body.
Next Page
Wade Steffey Has Vanished Without a Trace
For more daily crime news
default
increase
decrease
email
print
