Missing Kansas Student Left Troubling Voicemail for Sister Before Disappearance

Aisha Khan told her sister she had slapped a drunken man who was harassing her.

ByABC News
December 19, 2011, 5:23 PM

Dec. 19, 2011 — -- A missing 19-year-old Kansas college student last seen on the University of Kansas campus left her sister a troubling voicemail the morning she disappeared.

In the voicemail, Aisha Khan told her sister that while she was studying for finals at an outdoor picnic table, a man who appeared drunk had been harassing her and attempted to kiss her before she hit him and he took off.

"'I slapped him. He just smelled really bad, and I didn't know what to do,'" Khan's sister, Faiza Khan, recalled her sister saying in the voicemail, according to ABC News' Kansas City affiliate KMBC. "She's like, 'You need to pick up your phone. I'm confused.' She was freaked out at that point."

Shortly after, Faiza Khan tried to call her sister back, but her sister did not answer the phone. Faiza Khan rushed to where her sister said she had been studying on the university campus and found Aisha's belongings -- her cell phone, backpack and other items -- but Aisha was nowhere to be found.

"We have no information that it was an abduction and no information that it wasn't," Overland Park Police Chief John Douglass said at a news conference Monday. "We are looking at it as a missing person case and putting the resources into it as if it was an abduction."

Khan was last seen around 11 a.m. on Friday at the University of Kansas Edwards Campus. She is a student at the Johnson County Community College, a partner of the University of Kansas, which would explain her presence on campus.

Police have interviewed family, friends, students, faculty and construction workers who were working nearby. Douglass said the construction workers believe they saw someone that matched Khan's description walking away from the area alone, but police have not yet confirmed if it was Khan.

FBI agents are assisting the Overland Park Police Department in the investigation. Investigators on foot and on horseback have searched the campus, nearby woods, a creek bed, park and a nearby golf course to no avail.

There are no suspects or hard leads in the case. Khan's family is offering a $10,000 reward for information regarding her disappearance.

"We have looked at videotapes of all the intersections," Douglass said. "To date, we have seen absolutely nothing in that area."

Khan was married this year and police have spoken to her husband. The couple was living together in an apartment. Douglass said there was "no reason to believe that he is a suspect."

Khan's disappearance has led to an outpouring of support, including from many members of the Muslim community. Her missing person Facebook page has been flooded with messages to Allah, praying for her safe return.

Supporters have set up a "Help Find Aisha Khan" Facebook page that already has more than 10,000 supporters and a Twitter account, @FindAisha, has been set up. Both are frequently updated.

"There's so much we don't know about the case," Douglass said. "She's 19 years old, but not much more than a child. One of our own is missing and we need to find her."

Khan is 5 feet, 2 inches and weighs 120 pounds. She was last seen wearing a black head scarf, black sweat pants, a yellow and black shirt, a black jacket and a black and white coat. The Overland Police Department is asking that anyone who has any information call 913-344-8703.