Father pleads for help in search for St. Thomas freshman

Volunteers step up efforts to find the college student missing since Sunday.

By CHAO XIONG, Star Tribune

Last update: April 8, 2009 - 8:12 PM

The father of missing University of St. Thomas freshman Dan Zamlen pleaded for the public's help in finding his son, who disappeared early Sunday morning.

"Help me find my son," Dale Zamlen said at a news conference at St. Thomas on Wednesday afternoon. "Find him alive out there." Wednesday was Dan Zamlen's 19th birthday.

About 100 volunteers searched for him over the lunch hour, going door to door in neighborhoods near the Mississippi River bluffs in St. Paul. Search organizers expected about 500 volunteers by the end of the day and said they will search every day until they find Zamlen.

The Eveleth, Minn. native has Type I diabetes, and would likely be in a diabetic coma at this point, said his father.

"My gut tells me we have to keep looking, we have to keep knocking on doors," said Dale Zamlen. "My son deserves that."

Zamlen and St. Paul police asked homeowners in the area to search their garages, sheds and homes in case his son sought shelter there.

Police are focusing their search on the bluffs areas of S. Mississippi River Blvd. and St. Clair Avenue. Dan Zamlen called friends from that intersection about 2:30 a.m. Sunday, and was calling out for help when the phone cut out. He hasn't been heard from since.

Police said there has been no activity in his bank accounts.

Missing persons flyers have been distributed and Zamlen's picture has been broadcast on the JumboTron screens at the Xcel Center and Metrodome.

Zamlen is 6-feet-1 and 175 pounds. He has blond hair, blue eyes and was wearing a dark blue, zip-up fleece, light blue T-shirt, blue jeans and brown Dr. Martens shoes. He was carrying a black iPhone and a blue hand-held insulin meter.

Information about volunteering and a missing persons poster are available at www.finddan.org.

Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or the university's Public Safety Department at 651-962-5555.

Chao Xiong • 612-673-4391

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