Audio By Carbonatix
After searching an additional area of the Salt River basin for 19-year-old ASU freshman Jack Culolias, Tempe police finished their search of the area Friday evening, almost one full week after Culolias was last seen at Tempe Marketplace.
Investigators had finished the search on Thursday, but were back searching again the next morning after police got a call about an “object, resembling a person’s silhouette” being spotted in the Salt River basin, outside of the original search area.
See also:
–Search for ASU Freshman Jack Culolias Ends, Then Starts Again: “Object” Spotted
–One Red Shoe Remains the Only Sign of Missing ASU Freshman Jack Culolias
–ASU Freshman Jack Culolias Has Been Missing Since Friday Night
By Friday afternoon, Tempe police said the Department of Public Safety crime lab confirmed that DNA from a red shoe found near the river basin — the only physical clue of Culolias’ whereabouts — was a match to Culolias.
When news happens, Phoenix New Times is there —
Your support strengthens our coverage.
We’re aiming to raise $30,000 by December 31, so we can continue covering what matters most to you. If New Times matters to you, please take action and contribute today, so when news happens, our reporters can be there.
Tempe police Sergeant Michael Pooley said in an e-mail Friday that even though the search of the basin is over, the “search and investigation into the disappearance of Jack will continue.”
Culolias was kicked out of Cadillac Ranch in Tempe Marketplace around 11 p.m. on November 30 — where he used a fake ID to get in — during an event with the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, in which Culolias is a pledge.
Although there continue to be mentions of hazing being involved, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Culolias’ mother — a California resident, who ended up filing the missing-person report with ASU police on Sunday — told police that her son had been fearful about the prospect of being hazed in the coming week, as a fraternity pledge.
That apparently led police to interviewing Sigma Alpha Epsilon members, and that led investigators to the Tempe Marketplace area. That discovery led to Tempe police taking over the investigation.
Pooley said last week that police were still interviewing people, and they’re still taking tips, too.
Police ask anyone with information to call them at 480-350-8311, and police have provided the following link for anyone who wants to leave a tip anonymously, over the Internet: tempe.gov/index.aspx?page=2653.
