Helicopters, drones, boats being used in search for missing Princeton University student (updated 8:45 p.m.)

Helicopters, drones, and boats are being used as the search continues for missing Princeton University undergraduate Misrach Ewunetie.

University officials sent an alert to employees Wednesday morning notifying them that “there is an increased law enforcement presence on and around campus including the use of a helicopter, drones, and watercraft” as part of efforts to find the missing 20-year-old student.

Numerous Princeton area residents reported to Planet Princeton that they heard helicopters near Carnegie Lake and the D&R Canal State Park area Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning.

Ewunetie was last seen at about 3 a.m. Friday, Oct. 14 near Scully Hall on the university campus. She is a resident of Scully Hall and a member of New College West.

Ewunetie was volunteering at the Terrace Eating Club, a private student eating club located on Washington Road, according to the student newspaper The Daily Princetonian. She is a member of the club and was working for the club during a live music performance. After the club closed for the night and she finished her work, she and other members who were working left for the night, according to the student newspaper. Raavi and Jackie Marchal performed at the club that niht beginning at about 11:30 p.m. Terrace Club has late-night backyard concerts on Thursday nights several times during the school year.

Anyone with information on Ewunetie’s whereabouts should contact the Princeton University Department of Public Safety at (609) 258-1000, or submit an anonymous tip online.

Police said Ewunetie is 5 feet 4 inches tall, and weighs 130 pounds. She has brown eyes, black hair, and a light brown complexion. She was wearing a gray t-shirt and black pants, according to a family member.

Ewunetie is from Cleveland, Ohio, and is a member of the class of 2024. She is majoring in sociology with a certificate in computing applications.

Princeton University Vice President for Student Life Rochelle Calhoun wrote an email to students about Ewunetie on Wednesday, updating them about the situation.

“Even as we experience a break from our fall semester on-campus routines, our hearts and thoughts are drawn back to our campus community as we continue the search for Misrach Ewunetie,” Calhoun wrote.

Calhoun said in the email that she has talked with the university’s department of public safety, which is leading the investigation with the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office. On Sunday, Oct. 16, she said public safety was notified by Ewunetie’s family that they had not heard from her in several days. The family requested a well-being check.

“Since Sunday, DPS has been actively working with the prosecutor’s office and with state and local police departments to follow all leads in the search for Misrach,” Calhoun wrote. “Our thanks go out to DPS, the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, and the local and state police departments that are involved in the search for their tireless efforts. I am confident that all is being done to find Misrach.”

Midterm examinations at Princeton University were the week of Oct. 10-14. The university has been on fall break since Saturday, Oct. 15. Classes resume on Monday, Oct. 24.

Calhoun encouraged students to be in touch with residential college staff, graduate school staff, Office of Religious Life staff members, or Princeton University Counseling and Psychological Services if they need support.

“Our campus community has demonstrated an outpouring of support, concern, prayers and hopes for Misrach’s well-being and safe return. Thank you to everyone for continuing to hold Misrach and her family in your thoughts as our search continues,” Calhoun wrote. “It is especially in these challenging times that we must draw strength and support from one another and from those in our community who are available to provide counsel, support and guidance.”