Family of missing OSU student facing uncertainty, massive search underway
By Adrian Thomas
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CORVALLIS, Oregon (KPTV) — Police search and rescue teams, along with volunteers are trying to find a missing Oregon State University student. 22-year-old Steven Mainwaring has been missing for nearly two weeks.
He was reportedly last in touch with his family on Dec. 16.
Mainwaring is an engineering student who also serves in the Air National Guard.
A week before Christmas, his parents say he told them he would be home in Klamath Falls for the holiday but might take a day trip to the coast or go fishing before.
After not hearing from him since then, his family is now facing the unthinkable.
“It’s really hard as a mother, just the unknown, the uncertainty,” said Mainwaring’s mother, Bethany Cook. “When Christmas Eve and Christmas went by and he didn’t even send me a text message, I was highly concerned. It’s kind of a surreal place to be.”
The Corvallis Police Department says Steven’s phone was pinged on Dec. at a cell tower in Harrisburg, which pinpointed the phone’s location near the town of Alsea.
Cook says, had Mainwaring taken a longer trip into the wilderness, she would have known.
He’s a great young man and he loves the outdoors, loves to adventure, loves to explore,” said Cook. “He’s always been very reliable and dependable. As much as he’s a lone wolf and he loves to adventure, if he was going to go on something extended, he’d definitely let us know.”
Mainwaring’s family has also shared photos of his Ford Bronco. Cook says the car is nowhere to be found and locating it will be an important lead to finding her son.
Cook adds even if something went wrong while Mainwaring was out alone, he would still be well prepared.
“He has studied survival in the woods quite a bit, he’s had hours in the woods, and with his Air Guard training we are hopeful.”
Anyone with information on Steven Mainwaring’s Whereabouts or his car is asked to call the Corvallis Police Department at 541-766-6911.
Additionally, those close to Mainwaring have set up a Facebook Page where information on the search is being posted.
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