Search for missing Rice University student in Berkeley this weekend

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Jul 10, 2008 | by Kristin Bender

BERKELEY -- New information about missing Rice University student Matthew Wilson and his links to Berkeley is emerging, said his mother, who this weekend will join volunteers to search the city where her son's car was found last month.

Wilson, 21, disappeared from Houston in December; his abandoned car was found in June on Allston Way in Berkeley. But he has not been located, and an East Bay search-and-recovery group will lead a two-day search of Berkeley and San Francisco this weekend.

On Thursday, his mother, Cathy Wilson, said her son's interest in Berkeley dates back several years.

In 2004, when he was still at the top of his high school class in Haworth, Okla., a town of 350 in the state's southeast corner, he applied to UC Berkeley. He also applied to the University of Tulsa, Oklahoma State University and Rice University, where he won a full scholarship and decided to enroll, his mother said.

In the years that followed, he made nearly perfect grades in computer science at Rice, had holiday gatherings with family, did not seem depressed and seemed to be well on his way to a successful career in the computer world, his mother said. Cathy Wilson said her son didn't talk about Berkeley or living on the West Coast or about his missed opportunity to attend Cal.

But now that he's been gone for more than six months, it appears he may hiding out in Berkeley and may even be looking to change his identity.

In mid-June, police discovered a 2004 silver Dodge Neon that had been parked on the 1200 block of Allston Way for about a month. The car was operable and undamaged, and did not seem abandoned, police said. Inside, police found books and notes on how to assume a new identity, a book on how to live cheaply in San Francisco, a can of beans, rice and instant noodle soup.

Police have ruled out foul play and are returning the car to Cathy Wilson.

"Obviously to me, I see that Matthew must have drove to California. I'm hoping he's out there somewhere,'' said Wilson, 52, who lives on a 180-acre Oklahoma farm and is flying to Oakland today to search in Berkeley and San Francisco on Saturday and Sunday with the assistance of Trinity Search and Recovery of Pleasanton.

Wilson said she knows her son hasn't tried to apply to UC Berkeley because there has not been a request for his transcripts from Rice.

There is another clue that Matthew Wilson could be in the area.

Bridget Melson, with the search-and-recover group, said that a "Matt Wilson" attended two meetings in December and January of the East Bay Ruby Meetup Group, an informal group that meets on the third Tuesday of the month to discuss Ruby or Ruby on Rails, a tool used to build databases for Web sites.

The name Matt Wilson is shown on the meetup Web site, but there is no photo of him, so it is possibly not the same person. Police are aware of the possible link between Wilson and the group and are investigating it, police spokesman Officer Andrew Frankel said.

On Saturday, searchers will meet at 9 a.m. at Berkeley High School, 1980 Allston Way, across from the football field.

The search will resume at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Melson said the group still needs at least 20 more volunteers to search and post fliers each day. Volunteers should register at www.trinitysearch.org.

The search group is providing a number, 925-846-2319, for Matthew Wilson to call to tell his family he is all right.

He is white, 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighs 135 pounds and has red hair and green eyes. He had a full beard when last seen. He may be wearing glasses.

There is a $25,000 reward for information regarding his disappearance or whereabouts. More information is available at findmattwilson.org.

Wilson vanished Dec. 14 after he withdrew $400 from a Houston ATM. About an hour later, he took out an additional $100 from an ATM.

He then returned to the off-campus apartment he shared with a roommate and washed dishes. Later that night, the roommate said Wilson came into the apartment with what sounded like plastic grocery bags, according to a timeline posted on findmattwilson.org.

Shortly before midnight, Wilson used a debit card to fill his car with gas. The card has not been used since.

Police also know that he had bought charcoal, matches, a car cover and a car window shade before leaving Houston. The college junior never turned in his four finals that were due the following week.

"His sisters are kind of worried that he had some kind of mental breakdown," his mother said.

Kristin Bender covers Berkeley. Reach her at kbender@bayareanewsgroup.com Read her blog at www.ibabuzz.com/ outtakes.