Remember this guy..does anyone know what happened to him?
thanks. mc
Don Wiley, seen in this January 1999 photo, has been missing since Nov. 15, when his rental car was found abandoned on a bridge over the Mississippi River in Memphis, Tenn. (Jon Chase, Harvard University News Office/AP Photo) Ivy League Mystery
Disappearance Baffles Police, Family
Nov. 28 — The family of a missing Harvard molecular biologist rejects theories he may have committed suicide as the Ivy League college tries to cope with his disappearance.
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Don Wiley of Cambridge, Mass., was last seen Nov. 15, when he attended a banquet at The Peabody hotel in Memphis, Tenn. The infectious disease expert was at a two-day annual meeting of the scientific advisory board of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, on which he has served for 10 years.
Four hours after Wiley left the hotel, police found his rented Mitsubishi Galant about 5 miles away on the Hernando DeSoto Bridge over the Mississippi River. The car, police said, had a full tank of gas and the keys were still in the ignition.
Fears of bioterrorism prompted newspapers in Boston to raise suspicions that Wiley was the victim of a terrorist-related kidnapping, given his expertise in working with deadly viruses like HIV and Ebola. But investigators in Memphis wonder whether Wiley, a married father of four children, may have committed suicide.
"It does [fit the profile of a suicide] for people who use one of our bridges here in Memphis to take their own life," Walter Crews, director of the Memphis Police Department, said on ABCNEWS' Good Morning America. "The personality, the background, of Dr. Wiley, from what we've been able to learn, does not. But the car … on the bridge, with the keys in it, the full tank of gas is typical of someone who would do something [like suicide]."
Reward Offered for Any Information
Wiley's family can't believe he killed himself, stressing the professor did not seem to have any financial or personal problems.
"Don is a really happy and successful person and the people at St. Jude say he was the life of the party that night," Wiley's sister told Good Morning America during a phone interview from her home in Hawaii.
Wiley's father, Bill Wiley, who lives in Memphis, said his son knew the city well and would not have likely gotten lost driving. Wiley's wife, Katrin Valgeirsdottir, said she understands why investigators would speculate about suicide but does not believe her husband would have killed himself.
"We don't know what happened," Valgeirsdottir told The Associated Press. "We can speculate until the cows come home, but we don't know."
Today, Memphis police announced that professors at Harvard and board members at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital are offering a $10,000 reward for any information leading to Wiley's whereabouts. Crime Stoppers, a national tip line, had already offered $1,000 for any information.
"In addition to the reward offered by Crime Stoppers, an extra reward of $10,000 is being offered for information leading to an arrest and charges in the disappearance of Dr. Don C. Wiley, Harvard University professor visiting St Jude's Children's research hospital," said Memphis Deputy Police Chief Robert Wright. "The $10,000 reward is made possible by private contributions from the boards and faculty of Harvard University and St. Children's research hospital."
At Harvard, Wiley's disappearance is front-page news on the campus newspaper, The Harvard Crimson. The Crimson reported that the mood at Wiley's lab offices was "grim" and that the molecular and cellular biology department circulated an e-mail telling students to refer any questions about Wiley to the university's communications office.
"It's widely discussed," C. Matthew MacInnis, president of The Harvard Crimson, told ABCNEWS. "A lot of students are talking about it in the dining halls. A lot of students are asking what's going on."
Downplaying Terrorism Links
While monitoring the case, FBI officials have refused to get involved, citing lack evidence linking Wiley's disappearance to terrorism.
"No we have not opened a file on this time," said Memphis FBI spokesman George Bolds. "If circumstances change — if there is a ransom note, a ransom call, or information that a federal statute has been violated in this case, then we will consider revisiting our decision. But for now, it's a missing persons case and we're letting the Memphis PD handle it.
"As for his [Wiley's] profession and expertise, it is what it is," Bolds continued. "It's a fact and it's an interesting fact. It's good for media stories but we just have no reason to believe his profession or expertise is somehow connected to his disappearance. If something changes, then that might be worth our revisiting our current decision."
Wiley's colleagues doubt his disappearance is terrorist-related. Harvard professor Jack Strominger, a longtime collaborator with Wiley who has been honored alongside the missing scientist for their work in human immunology, said Wiley has not worked with Ebola directly and has no knowledge how to infect large amount of people with infectious diseases.
"[There's] no conceivable way that his work could have any link to bioterrorism that I have been able to think of," Strominger said.
Ketan Desai, global clinical head of rheumatology at Aventis Pharmaceuticals in New Jersey, said he did not think Wiley's disappearance had anything to do with biological weapons, but added: "A person of his caliber could concoct a pretty dangerous biological weapon."
ABCNEWS.com's Bryan Robinson and ABCNEWS' Dan Harris and Roger Sergel in Boston contributed to this report. |
