Police say search for A&M student Caleb Harris still an intense multijurisdictional effort
Corpus Christi Police Department (CCPD) officers have conducted an exhaustive but so far unsuccessful search for Caleb Harris, a 21-year-old Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi student who went missing March 4.
Investigators are continuing an intense search of hundreds of acres surrounding The Cottages at Corpus Christi, Harris’ apartment complex in the 1900 block of Ennis Joslin Drive, according to a news release published on the CCPD Blotter on Wednesday afternoon.
Efforts to find Harris ramped up in the first and second weeks after the New Braunfels man disappeared suddenly from his off-campus residence, where he was last seen walking his dog in the early morning hours.
Family members reported him missing when his roommates were unable to locate him later that morning. An avid fisherman, Harris had been chatting with friends about a planned fishing trip and ordered food between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m., after which his phone died or was turned off. He was wearing teal pants and a white shirt. Harris is 21 years old, weighs 180 pounds, and is 5 feet, 11 inches tall.
A preliminary search began at 7 a.m. on March 6, with police officers, college students, residents, friends and family gathering along a sidewalk near Harris’ apartment complex. CCPD police cadets looked for clothing items including shoes, a tie and belt in the adjacent field, while police drones scoured the area.
For the last three weeks, volunteers from organizations throughout Texas, including Texas Search and Rescue (TEXSAR), have journeyed out with K-9 units and dirt bikes to search a wide ambit of North Padre Island, from Oso Bay to Packery Channel and Flour Bluff.
Search and Rescue SATX, a professionally trained volunteer first responder group, has been stationed in town for at least two weeks, plunging underwater drones into the coastal waters to locate clues.
Friends and community members have formed their own crews to scour roads, shorelines, nature preserves and heavily vegetated and secluded areas of the island, including Victoria Park and Suter Wildlife Refuge. Some searches have been conducted in The Cottages’ backyard at the Oso Baseball Complex.
As the search prolongs, detectives from the CCPD Criminal Investigation Division (CID) are turning their efforts toward establishing a timeline for Harris in the hours and days preceding his absence, interviewing his roommates, friends, family members and acquaintances. CCPD detectives reported they do not have a reason to suspect that these individuals were involved in the student’s disappearance.
After questioning people who know Harris, officers went door to door at his apartment complex and an adjacent apartment complex looking for possible witnesses or surveillance video and searched more than 30 vacant apartments.
FBI, U.S. Marshals, crime analysts among search team
An investigative team consisting of CID detectives, the CCPD Organized Crime Unit (OCU), the FBI, U.S. Marshals and several civilian crime analysts formed within days of Harris’ vanishing and continues to work full time to solve the case. CCPD reassured the public that the police investigation is rigorous and ongoing, with teams of detectives persisting to interview potential witnesses in Corpus Christi, San Antonio and New Braunfels.
Amidst the professional investigation, friends, acquaintances and strangers have formed an online search community through mobile networks to share pictures, snapchats and chat logs on social media intimating details of Harris’ last known whereabouts.
In cases focused on missing persons, user-generated content can serve as digital evidence to assist investigators in gathering background information that might help follow up on tips or find potential leads that can be authenticated to widen or narrow the scope of the search and keep track of any new developments.
As family and loved ones hope for Harris’ safe return, the CCPD team is meeting every day to share information from the previous day’s attempts, discuss possible leads, and plot the course of the investigation.
Last Friday, the team gathered at police headquarters with a squad of five Texas Rangers to share all information on the status of the case and seek any advice the Rangers could provide. The consensus from the Rangers was that the investigative team was pursuing the most logical course of action in the search and pledged their continued assistance and technical support to the team.
Investigators have not settled on a motive for Harris’ disappearance or identified a suspect or person of interest. Detectives seek assistance from the public to solve the case, adjuring anyone with information related to his disappearance to contact the CCPD Special Investigations Unit (SPI) at (361) 886-2840 or the Non-Emergency phone line at (361) 886-2600.
Those who would like to keep their identity secret and still provide information to detectives should call Crime Stoppers at 888-TIPS (8477) or submit the tip online at https://www.p3tips.com/TipForm.aspx?ID=343&C=&T=.
More: Search for missing Texas A&M student Caleb Harris expands across North Padre Island
More: Search continues for Caleb Harris, missing since Monday
More: Corpus Christi police expand search for missing university student Caleb Harris
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Police issue statement on Caleb Harris, missing since March 4
