Ste. Genevieve police continue search for missing teenager

STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. -- Police are asking for the public's help in the search for a Ste. Genevieve boy missing since Saturday.

Wade M. Lurk, 17, was last seen sleeping in his car around 4:30 a.m. Saturday at Goose Creek, a campsite near the border of Ste. Genevieve and St. Francois counties, where he had been attending a party, according to Ste. Genevieve County Sheriff Gary Stolzer.

Lurk was described as 5 feet 8 inches tall, 150 to 160 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. His vehicle, a 1990 Nissan Stanza with Missouri license plates 720-WWC, was also missing as of Monday evening.

A gate guard for the campsite believed he saw the car drive out of the area around 5:30 a.m., Stolzer said, but he wasn't certain if it was Lurk's car or if Lurk was inside.

The sheriff's department was notified around 8 p.m. Saturday and began a search that involved both a St. Louis County and Missouri State Highway Patrol helicopter. Hundreds of volunteers have also searched the area, Stolzer said. "We've covered almost every road in our county," he said, adding the search has spread to St. Francois and Jefferson counties.

No evidence suggested foul play, and Lurk was not described as someone who would run away, Stolzer said. The party had involved alcohol, and Lurk was reported to have been drinking.

It was possible Lurk might have been in an accident in a rural area, Stolzer said.

Anyone with information should call the Ste. Genevieve County Sheriff's Department at (573) 883-5820.

kmorrison@semissourian.com

335-6611 extension 127