Sad News Out of Vermont

Since early February, 2008, I had been following the story of Nicholas Garza, 19, of Albuquerque, NM, a freshman at Middlebury College in Vermont (my undergraduate alma mater), who disappeared mysteriously on the night of February 5th.

The story was baffling, because he left all his personal possessions, including winter clothing behind. Neither his friends nor family saw anything unusual in his behavior during his first semester at the school. He didn't seem like the type of person to take off without letting someone know. He was in contact with his family via cell phone almost every day.

Snow cover prevented a thorough outside search until May. The last place to look was in a log jam that forms just below a waterfall below the main bridge over fast-running Otter Creek in downtown Middlebury. And sure enough, that's where they found his body on May 27th.

So it's a sad closure for his family and friends. Still to be explained is how he got into the creek, a considerable distance from where he was last seen, especially considering the fact that it was still winter in Vermont, and he was not dressed to be outside for any length of time.

The family has been maintaining a web site at www.nicholasgarza.org .

Latest on Missing Student

Nicholas Garza has been missing from the peaceful and bucolic campus of Middlebury College in rural Vermont since the night of February 5th, 2008. He was last seen leaving on foot from one dormitory to another about 11:00 PM.

Now that spring has arrived in Vermont the area around the campus has been searched by police, search teams with dogs, and on the weekend of April 26, by more than a hundred volunteers who came from all over Vermont and adjacent states.

The only clue that has been reported in the press and media is the vague sighting of something that might have been similar to some of the clothing that he was said to be wearing when he disappeared, seen in the fast moving waters of Otter Creek, which flows from south to north through the town of Middlebury.

A more comprehensive search will have to wait until the spring flood waters subside. It's a sad and baffling story. Middlebury College is one of the most competitive and highly-rated liberal arts institutions in the country. The young man reportedly was bright, popular and well adjusted. He was not wearing winter clothing when he left to dormitory. The section of the creek where the objects were sighted is not readily accessible from the campus, and in February there was substantial snow cover on the ground, which would have impeded the progress of anyone, even with the proper clothing and footwear.

His family is still maintaining a website: http://www.nicholasgarza.org/