The La Crosse Police Department declared Viterbo University senior Gretchen Lee missing Wednesday after she failed to show up to work at the La Crosse Public Library both Monday and Tuesday.
According to a release from the La Crosse Police Department, Lee’s case was filed as an endangered missing person, due to her past history of depression.
Lee was last seen leaving her father’s home in Red Wing, Minn., at 6:30 a.m. Monday. The library’s manager notified police Monday of Lee’s absence when she failed to show up for work later that day, according to the release.
An article in the La Crosse Tribune stated that La Crosse police said Lee’s ATM card was used for several inexpensive purchases after she disappeared, with at least one transaction recorded in the Madison area.
However, the police department’s release said no evidence was found that linked Lee’s disappearance to any other reported missing persons in Wisconsin, including University of Wisconsin sophomore Audrey Seiler, who was found alive Wednesday.
Viterbo University’s chaplain, Father Tom O’Neill, sent an e-mail to the school’s 2,000 students Wednesday announcing Lee’s disappearance.
O’Neill said in the e-mail, “On behalf of President Medland and the administration, I wanted to let you know that we were informed this morning that the parents of Gretchen Lee … have notified the authorities that she is missing and has been for the last two days since her visit home in Red Wing.”
O’Neill also said in the e-mail the university presently has no other information on Lee’s disappearance and asked students to pray for her safe return.
John, a senior at Viterbo who refused to give his last name, said Lee “just went home for the weekend and never came back.”
Viterbo sophomore and dormitory resident assistant Katy Martin said the students had just heard about Lee’s disappearance Wednesday via e-mail. Martin shared a music-appreciation class with Lee and spoke with her during classes.
“She seemed very outgoing,” Martin said. “Nobody has any ideas about what happened to her that I know of.”
Martin said Lee lives off-campus and that it is difficult for administration to catch when off-campus residents go missing, but university and student officials will most likely organize a search effort soon.
“I’m sure [a search effort] will happen,” Martin said. “But right now, we’re all still pretty much in shock.”
Several other Viterbo students were unaware of Lee’s disappearance.
A civilian-service employee at the La Crosse Police Department who withheld his name said the term “endangered” stated in the department’s release could affect how the investigation is conducted.
“The term ‘endangered’ means somebody who is dangerous to themselves,” he said. “The term (‘endangered missing person’) is linked to her past history, being that [Lee] could be suicidal.”
University of Wisconsin psychology professor Michael Sweetnam said the term “endangered missing person” was not a term used in psychology journals.
“By the term ‘endangered,’ I assume [the La Crosse Police Department] means by that that she was at risk because of her previous history,” Sweetnam said.
Sweetnam noted millions of people suffer from depression, and the disorder may or may not be relevant to Lee’s disappearance.
“To say that anyone (who) has a history of depression is endangered, [the human race] would be an endangered species,” Sweetnam said. “Depression is a mental disorder that puts you at a higher risk for a lot of things, but not to be kidnapped.”
Lee, a 22-year-old English major, is a Caucasian female with brown hair and blue eyes and is 4-foot-10 and 95 pounds. Lee also wears glasses and drives a 1997 silver-colored Mercury Tracer with Minnesota license plates.
