EAST LANSING, Mich. (WWJ) -- Divers from the Capitol police have now joined the search for a missing metro Detroit teen who went missing in East Lansing over the weekend.
Rochester Hills native and Grand Valley State University student Brendan Santo was last seen Friday night after leaving Yakeley Hall shortly before midnight on the campus of Michigan State University.
Santo was visiting friends at MSU for the weekend when he vanished.
With Santo now missing for five days, MSU Public Safety Inspector Chris Rozman says police are utilizing boats, advanced sonar technology, cadaver dogs and divers on the Red Cedar River to search for the teen.
“We always have a degree of hope when we’re working these cases and it’s important that we do that as we carry out our jobs,” Rozman told WWJ. “We are committed to doing everything we can to find Brendan and bring resolution to this case.”
Police say there is no evidence of foul play or that Santo was suicidal, but there are steep embankments along the river, which also makes the search tougher.
“The water search operation is a very difficult thing to do, especially with the topography and the nature of the river in that section,” he said.
Police don’t have a timeframe for the search, according to Rozman, who says “we will stay out there until we have exhausted all resources and that we’re comfortable saying that that area is clear.”
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Police said Santo may have been headed to the Brody neighborhood after leaving Yakeley Hall. His pickup truck was found near Yakeley, where he last parked it.
“It is sad. We do remain hopeful, as we do with all of these cases, while at the same time acknowledging that he’s been missing for four days now,” Rozman said.