Students celebrated Christmas on Campus, finished up courses and prepared for exams in December, but one student just wasn't there to join in.

Anthony Cash-Patterson, senior engineering and math major, disappeared from campus Dec. 6. UD police found him 'alive and well,' in an undisclosed out-of-state location 22 days later, according to Public Safety Executive Director Bruce Burt.

Cash-Patterson's parents first alerted Public Safety of their son's disappearance Dec. 11. Police were not too concerned initially, Burt said, because students have been known to leave their residences for several days while visiting friends or taking trips out of town. When there has been no evidence of foul play or other suspicious circumstances in the case of an adult, police are less likely to investigate.

'With an adult, they have a right to come and go,' Burt said. 'If [Cash-Patterson] wants to be gone, then it's his right.'

However, concern for Cash-Patterson's safety grew when police discovered he had not attended any of his exams. The search expanded from tracing his CampusOne card account and campus activities to checking hospitals, the coroner's office and other city locations. It was at this time that Public Safety notified the UD and Dayton communities that Cash-Patterson was missing.

Along with putting out broadcasts to southwest Ohio agencies and the National Crime Information Center, a computerized network, UD police checked with airlines and bus companies and investigated leads, which, according to Burt, were few. Ultimately, their efforts paid off.

'We ended up just doing some extensive investigations,' Burt said. 'We really stuck with it until we were able to locate him. We were very fortunate.'

UD police had a law enforcement officer at Cash-Patterson's location confirm his identity after they spoke with him, and notified the family of his welfare, though not his whereabouts. Burt could not reveal Cash-Patterson's location, but he did confirm that Cash-Patterson has not returned to Dayton.

The search effort involved the entire 26-member police division, according to Burt, although one officer, Chief Investigator Harry Sweigart, 'did most of the legwork.'

'He's the one I credit,' Burt said.

'To find the missing person as quickly as possible and alive and well is always your chief focus and hope,' Sweigart said in an e-mail. 'I wanted to find Cash-Patterson so that his family and friends would have peace of mind knowing where he was at and that he was okay. As a father myself, I knew how I would feel if it was one of my children missing.'

While the situation ended well, it did come at a cost, according to Burt. He encouraged students to notify someone if they planned to be absent.

'Please let somebody know,' he said. 'This whole thing could've been avoided.'