Teen's Car, Pack Found in Wisconsin Cornfield
The clues in the case of Lee Cutler, 18, were discovered 175 miles from home.
Oct. 23, 2007— -- Yesterday, it was his car. Today, it was a backpack and blankets.
Authorities hope that the two discoveries in less than two days will help lead to 18-year-old Lee Cutler, an Illinois high school senior last seen leaving a friend's house Saturday morning.
Cutler, who attended a party Friday night, never showed up at work Saturday, and neither friends nor family have heard from him since.
Sheriff's deputies in Sauk County, Wis., found Cutler's 2007 Toyota Corolla off the road near a cornfield. The car was locked and unoccupied, according to police in Buffalo Grove, Ill., Cutler's hometown some 170 miles away.
An initial foot search of the area turned up no signs of the teen, and deputies failed to locate tracks leading away from the car. The foot search, as well as an aerial search, broadened today, while deputies combed the banks of the Baraboo River.
"There were a couple of blankets found and a backpack that were clearly identified as Lee's," Dan de Grazia, a longtime friend of Cutler's family who has served as its spokesman during the search, told ABC News.
De Grazia described Cutler as a good student at Adlai E. Stevenson high school, with a reputation for making others laugh. He also said that Cutler, while facing some personal stresses -- such as a sick grandmother -- is not a teen with a history of erratic behavior, running away or abusing drugs and alcohol.
De Grazia also called the possibility the teen committed suicide "farfetched," explaining that dozens of Cutler's friends have been spoken to and no one has given any indication that the teen had suicidal intentions.
Cutler's parents, Beth and Barry Frazin, are at the scene of the search along the Baraboo River banks, a rugged landscape flanking fast-moving water. For now, authorities have waved off civilian help, but a search team has already come forward on a Facebook Web page -- called "Let's Find Lee!"-- created since Cutler's disappearance. Already, almost 900 people have joined the group.
"They're figuring out what they can do to help, they're staying out of the way and they're communicating with each other," said De Grazia, who praised the online efforts of Cutler's friends.
While the focus of the search is the Baraboo River, De Grazia said there's also a possibility that Cutler hitched a ride in an effort to see a friend who lives far away.
Whatever the case, Cutler's mother just wants her son to return home.
"Grandma says, 'PLEASE, PLEASE COME HOME,'" Beth Frazin wrote on the Web site dedicated to her son's search. "No questions asked, I just want to know that you are safe."