The Last Time We Saw Her. Robert Falcon Scott

shoelaces and every hair-tie scrunchie that’s ever been dropped in that park.” Everything of possible evidentiary value was gathered for later analysis to see if it belonged to Brooke Wilberger.

      A disabled volunteer rode a motorized scooter, back and forth, relaying messages and handing out water. A local woman showed up with a bag full of flashlight batteries. Every item and contingency that came up was handled in one way or another by volunteers.

      Flyers went out, in ever-widening circles, to Salem, Newport, and Lincoln City. Every corner of the neighborhood and the OSU campus was searched in a thorough manner. It seemed that wherever someone looked on the night of May 24 through May 25, there were flashlight beams and volunteers looking under bushes, under cars, and over fences. It was almost surreal as flashlight beams danced around in the dark, like so many fireflies.

      Despite all of the search efforts, by the afternoon of May 25, there were still no tangible clues as to where the missing young woman was. CPD captain Bob Deutsch told reporters, “We’ve come up with nothing so far, which is disappointing. As time goes on, the distances and places to look are greater.” Deutsch noted that 70 to 80 percent of the CPD resources were being used in the search at this point.

      More news about Brooke started filtering into the media around this time as well. AP reported that she attended BYU in Utah and was in her second year there. She lived in an all-female residence hall and was studying speech pathology. She intended to work with children with speech impediments after she graduated.

      Once again, family members said that Brooke wouldn’t just leave the area without telling someone first. Jared Cordon noted, “She’s a great person. She’s a bubbly, beautiful girl. It’s extremely out of character for her to disappear.”

      By Tuesday afternoon, May 25, even the FBI was involved. An FBI spokesperson from the Eugene FBI office said that their agents were assisting the other law enforcement agencies in any way they could. One of their main tasks was in profiling who the abductor might be—his possible characteristics and the way he operated. This could help the other law enforcement agents focus on high-priority suspects first, since time might be of the essence. And already, hundreds of tips were pouring in.

      By Wednesday, May 26, more than twenty detectives from local and regional offices of law enforcement agencies were involved in Brooke’s case. This did not count the numerous patrol officers and sheriff’s deputies who were involved as well. By that point more than three hundred tips had come in from as far away as New Mexico, Illinois, and even Maine. CPD lieutenant Ron Noble told reporters, “None of the tips have led to suspects. But we’re looking for someone who might have something, hoping they give us a call.”

      Reporter Jesse Sowa, of the Corvallis Gazette-Times, interviewed volunteer Bob Carleski to get an idea of what it was like for volunteers out in the field. Carleski’s regular job was a data consultant doing contract work in Albany, Oregon, about eleven miles from Corvallis. He took time off from his job to join one of Jerry Smith’s MPSR search teams. Carleski’s team consisted of eleven men and one woman, and their area of search was in foot-high ivy in the woods near Philomath Boulevard. Carleski spoke of how thorough the search was and the spirit of the crew he worked with. Everyone took their work very seriously.

      Steve Calton, an LDS volunteer, was a Hewlett-Packard employee. Calton told Sowa, “They (Hewlett-Packard) could do without me today. I can’t imagine what the family is going through.” About why he was there, Calton said, “It’s about helping your brothers and sisters.”

      The LDS Church members were not the only ones concerned about Brooke’s welfare. Gazette-Times reporter Carol Reeves looked into this aspect of the case with various other churches and religious institutions on campus and in Corvallis. College minister Mark Troncale, of OSU’s Calvary Chapel, spoke of a Tuesday meeting where they prayed for Brooke Wilberger. He related, “We prayed for her, for her family, and for the authorities.”

      Beth Crawford, of Westminster House at OSU, said that students in that institution were praying for Brooke and her family as well. Beth stated, “Her disappearance has left members of the campus community feeling vulnerable and has reminded people how fragile life is.” She added that Westminster House was open to any student who wanted to share their thoughts or concerns about Brooke.

      Not only were the campus religious communities involved, but the wider religious community in the area as well. Reverend Ron Johnson, pastor of the Corvallis Evangelical Church, said, “The people in our church are deeply concerned for this young woman and her family, and many have been praying for her return. Our leaders began to pray for her almost as soon as we heard the news about her.”

      The main religious-based effort, however, still remained with the LDS members of the area. Much of the effort was being coordinated at the stake level. A “stake” in the LDS Church is a combination of several churches in an area. In the Corvallis stake headquarters, located on Hamilton Street, there was a coordinating center for the volunteers, who were pouring in. Many of these volunteers had young children, and a child care center was set up for the kids while their parents went out on search missions. Along with the child care center, there was a general information table, a table full of flyers, and another table with volunteers handling incoming phone calls.

      The main effort at the center was sending new volunteers out to the search-and-rescue teams in the field, which were being coordinated by the professionals, such as MPSR. Terry Malaska at the stake center related, “They (the professionals) direct all of the search-and-rescue operations. They tell us what time and how many and where, and we try to give it to ’em.”

      Those who didn’t go out on actual ground searches were sent all over the area distributing flyers with Brooke’s photo and pertinent information. Terry related that by the afternoon of May 26, more than ten thousand of these flyers had been distributed in an ever-widening circle.

      Despite all of the prayers, and despite all of the massive searches by volunteers, there were no valid clues as to where Brooke had been taken or by whom. And although the legions of volunteers were very welcome, it was the law enforcement personnel who were vital in the massive operation. The heart of their coordination by May 26 was the “incident room” in the Law Enforcement Center on Fifth Street in Corvallis. Up to ten people in there were manning the phone lines and taking in a flood of tips about Brooke Wilberger. Many of these tips were useless, but all of them had to be taken seriously until rejected as not being valid or helpful. Nothing could be overlooked at that point.

      Corvallis Police Department captain Bob Deutsch told reporters, “Most of the tips are from people who think they saw her somewhere. Some are from self-styled psychics. A lot of unfounded tips have no validity whatsoever.”

      Besides being a command center for the incoming tips from the general public, the incident room also coordinated the efforts of the detectives from the CPD, BCSO, and Linn County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO), Albany Police Department, and OSP. Deutsch said that a lot of these detectives were checking out the criminal records of known sex offenders in the region. They were contacting these individuals and those who were on probation or parole. Deutsch called these people, “the usual suspects” in a crime of this nature. He added, “It’s basic, traditional, old-fashioned detective work. That means checking backgrounds, checking alibis, interviewing people, reinterviewing people, looking at criminal histories, and checking out leads.”

      On top of all of that, some law enforcement officers were going door-to-door in Brooke’s neighborhood, talking with people there and asking if they could check out their homes and backyards. And if that wasn’t enough, the Corvallis PD had the task of keeping the regional media and national media informed about the progress of the case.

      Lieutenant Ron Noble was handling most of the media contacts. Besides individual interviews with news stations and reporters, he was conducting three press conferences per day as well. The CPD knew that the more people who watched the press conferences in outlying areas, the better were the chances that Brooke would be found. By now, national early-morning television news shows had aired several segments about Brooke as well. The news about her spread far beyond the confines of Oregon’s Willamette River Valley to every corner of America.

      Besides