Missing Student's Car Found 2,000 Miles Away

June 16, 2008— -- A car belonging to a Rice University college student who vanished during his December finals was recovered last week by police in California, six months after he was reported missing nearly 2,000 miles away.

Matthew Wilson, a junior computer science major who was valedictorian at his Oklahoma high school and an honor roll student at Rice, was last seen by his roommate on Dec. 14. His cell phone and clothes were left behind at the Houston campus, but missing were his backpack and car, a silver 2004 four-door Dodge Neon.

Wilson, 21, did not show up for classes for which he had preregistered in the spring semester. A $25,000 reward that has since been offered by his family, Rice University and the Crime Stoppers tip program has failed to produce substantial leads for police.

Wilson's car was towed by the Berkeley Police Department on Tuesday, June 10, from a residential neighborhood in the western part of the university town. The parked Neon was originally tagged as an abandoned vehicle on May 7, according to B.J. Almond, a Rice University spokesman. The car was locked and the interior was dusty, with mold starting to grow.

There was no sign of foul play, according Berkeley Police Department spokesman Andrew Frankel, who described the California investigation as "in its infancy." The car will be traced for fingerprints and other bodily fluids, Frankel said.

"We trying to determine — if there are any other prints — who they belong to," Frankel told ABC News. "We're going to find his prints all over it. We're looking for any signs that Mr. Wilson did anything other than take a trip to Berkeley."

It is too early to know for sure whether the recovery of the car is good news or bad, Frankel said, "but we're hoping someone from our local community may have seen him." The Rice University Police Department notified Wilson's family that the Neon was found.

The discovery of Wilson's car has renewed speculation that the accomplished student may have taken off on his own free will, a scenario authorities have been unable to rule out.