By Steve Huff

April 12, 2006

advertisement

Ste. Genevieve, MO (Crime Library) —Jim Wilder wrote the following in an e-mail to me on Tuesday, April 11, 2006:

"It has been an emotional rollercoaster. We do not know how to feel. One moment we weep thinking he is dead. This suddenly turns to horror thinking someone may be holding him ( ...)

"Over the past 10 days we've searched literally every foot of ground between Goose Creek and his home in Ste. Genevieve, MO. I am overcome with emotions each time we ask for volunteers to help, again, to search the same ditches, roads, abandoned buildings and lots. Literally hundreds show up each time. We are truly blessed.

"We have no clues as to his whereabouts. I truly believe that the answer still
remains with some of those who attended the party.

"We pray that someone will stumble across his car, or if he is being held or hidden, that someone will do the right thing and report something to the authorities to help us get him home.

"Please keep your eyes and ears alert as you travel the roads. I ask that you
pray for Wade, his parents and grandparents. This has taken a tremendous toll on all of us ..."

Jim Wilder is Wade Lurk's uncle.

In the early morning hours of April 1^st, 2006, Wade Michael Lurk left a party held at a friend's cabin in Goose Creek, MO. Wade was seen sleeping on the passenger side of his white 1990 Nissan Stanza outside the cabin between 4 and 4:30 a.m. that morning. There has been no sign of the honor student and athlete from Ste. Genevieve, MO since that morning. Just over a week after Wade's disappearance, investigators accessed his personal profile on MySpace.com, prompting more than one person to think Wade had returned home. But Wade Lurk was still missing.

Many young people communicate via their online profiles and weblogs, trading greetings, quips, and information via the comments sections. In the community of teens who knew Wade M. Lurk, snatches of conversation could be found on various profiles shortly after Wade vanished. Some of the posts hinted that Jim Wilder's belief that the answer to the question of Wade's fate remained "with some of those who attended the party," was reasonable.

Next Page

Steve Huff can be reached via the contact form at huffcrimeblog.com

For more daily crime news