In an emotional plea that appeared on social media feeds throughout the D.C. region, the family of a 22-year-old student at the University of Maryland implored residents and business owners to search through camera footage for any sign of him, saying that he doesn’t have his phone, wallet or identification.
Dilan Shaan Ashar’s mother, Binita Ashar, concluded her video with a message directed to her son, describing him as a “kind, thoughtful young man who cares deeply about people.”
“Dilan, we love you so much and we hope you are safe,” she said in the video. “We want you home. If you see this or if anyone sees this, please call us or call 911. We are waiting for you.”
Across the University of Maryland this week, posters have been taped to buildings calling attention to Ashar’s disappearance. Campus police have described him as critically missing.
A surveillance camera captured Ashar’s movements around 2:30 a.m. Oct. 2 at a parking garage surrounded by vast woods and green space, the University of Maryland Police Department said in a news release Tuesday. Since then, his family has not heard from him.
The search to find Ashar, who identified himself a psychology student on LinkedIn, entered its fifth day Wednesday following previous efforts that “unfortunately, have yielded no results,” according to campus police. Rep. Steny Hoyer boosted the case Wednesday on social media by asking Marylanders to submit any information to campus police.
On Wednesday, students at the College Park campus walked past two different posters with Ashar’s image on them: one under the header “missing” and the other under “University of Maryland Police Department.”
There were posters displayed on the front door of the psychology department’s building and near the garage where he was last seen. As of late afternoon, there was no heavy police presence or visible search efforts underway in that area.
Ashar and his family were last in contact at around 6 p.m. Oct. 1, according to a campus alert. A camera captured him leaving his residence at around 2 a.m. on Oct. 2, campus police said.
Thirty minutes later, a camera recorded Ashar at the Terrapin Trail Garage. Ashar, who is 6-foot-2 and weighs about 185 pounds, was wearing a black University of Maryland hooded sweatshirt, gray sweatpants and white shoes at the time.
The sighting has been described by family and campus police as his last publicly confirmed appearance.
Ashar’s parents arrived at his residence the morning of Oct. 2, but he was not home, campus police said. At approximately 9:23 a.m., campus police and the Prince George’s County Police Department arrived at the 4300 block of Knox Road to meet with Ashar’s parents, “who were concerned about their son,” the campus alert said.
Prince George’s police released a missing persons alert at 11:40 a.m. on Oct. 2, though it marked Ashar’s date of disappearance as Sept. 20 on Knox Road and said he was wearing a yellow shirt and shorts. Prince George’s police declined to answer questions about the significance of the Sept. 20 date and referred The Washington Post to campus police. The campus police department did not respond to questions seeking to clarify the timeline and location of Ashar’s last known whereabouts.
Detectives and officers began their first search around the parking garage, according to campus police. It is unclear when that search started.
Campus police used a drone to conduct an aerial search of the woods near the parking garage around 12 p.m. on Oct. 3, according to a news release. Later that day, police searched the wooded area with police dogs.
On Oct. 4, 50 first responders and nine dogs underwent a “systematic and methodical search” that covered about 110 acres in the area around the parking garage, campus police said. Police dispatched a drone again to review the area of the university golf course, which is adjacent to the Terrapin Trail, they said.
Patrol officers have done recurring checks of parking garages, wood lines, Lake Artemesia and nearby parks since Ashar’s disappearance, campus police said.
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