Matthew Wilson on 72-Hour Psychiatric Hold

Aug. 14, 2008 — -- Matthew Wilson, the Rice University student who vanished more than eight months ago, has been found alive more than 2,000 miles from where friends say they last saw the straight-A student studying for final exams.

Wilson, whose car was found parked in Berkeley, Calif., in June, was found just before 7 p.m. Wednesday by the University of California Berkeley Police Department in an academic building at the university, in possession of stolen property and burglary tools, Lt. Doug Wing told ABCNews.com.

"Wilson was alone in the classroom utilizing some of the equipment when a campus officer stopped him to investigate further," Wing said.

When asked to identify himself, Wing said Wilson provided the officer with a false name before eventually admitting his true identify.

At that point, Wing said Wilson was arrested on four charges: providing false information to a police officer, possession of stolen property with a serial number obliterated, possession of stolen property and possession of burglary tools.

Wilson was taken to the Berkeley City Jail and then transferred to the John George Psychiatric Pavilion.

"Wilson is currently being held under a 72-hour psychiatric hold," said Wing, who added that at the time of his arrest Wilson seemed psychically healthy and was coherent. "When he's released back into criminal custody he will be arraigned."

When asked what Wilson said he had been doing for the past eight months, Wing declined to comment because of the ongoing investigation. Wing said that the police department is looking other spottings of Wilson around campus.

Back in Texas, Rice University Police were pleased to hear that Matthew had finally been located.

"We're very happy and relieved to hear that Matthew is alive," said Bill Taylor, police chief at Rice University, in a statement.

The details surrounding Wilson's disappearance have remained a mystery since he was first reported missing in December.

Wilson, a valedictorian at his Oklahoma high school and an honor roll student at Rice, was first reported missing by his roommate, Eliot Harwell, Dec. 16.

Harwell, who shared an off-campus apartment with 21-year-old Wilson, said that he knew of no reason why the accomplished student would disappear so close to the end of the semester.

At the time of his disappearance, Wilson needed to complete four exams. Harwell said that he last saw Wilson Dec. 13, around noon, when Wilson was working in his room on one of his finals.

But Harwell, also busy with his own work, reportedly left the apartment and did not return until Dec. 16. On Dec. 18, he filed a report with the Rice University police.

Police later learned that Wilson had failed to drive a friend to the airport the night of Dec. 15 as he had promised.

In a Dec. 27 interview with ABC's "Good Morning America," [WATCH VIDEO: Lost and Missing Student] Harwall expressed concern that foul play might be involved in his roommate's disappearance.

"It's just every day that he is gone, it just seems like something bad might have happened," Harwall said.

Lost and Missing College Student's Car Turns Up Few Clues

In June, six months after Wilson went missing, his car was found by city police on the Berkeley campus -- thousands of miles away from both his college apartment in Houston and his childhood home in Haworth, Okla. [READ STORY: No Sign of Missing Rice University Student: Matthew Wilson]

Despite the find, few clues were garnered from the car, and friends and family remained confused as to why Wilson may have headed to California.

The silver 2004 four-door Dodge Neon was locked, the interior was dusty, and mold was beginning to grow, according to a university spokesman, who told ABCNews.com at the time that the discovery of Wilson's' vehicle renewed speculation that the student may have left Houston of his own free will.

Wilson's mother, Cathy Wilson, told the Houston Chronicle at the time that her son's car was found that no matter the reason for his disappearance, she just hoped he was safe.

"I'm just pondering what else could have happened," she said. "If he's safe and he's away because he wants to be, that's fine. I just want to know that he's safe."

Reached moments after her son had been located Wednesday, Cathy Wilson told ABC News' Houston affiliate KTRK that she had her first dream about her son since his disappearance that very night. In fact, she said that the dream was interrupted when authorities called her to tell her the good news.

Wilson and his mother have not yet spoken, according to KTRK, but when questioned as to why her son may have chosen to travel to California, Cathy Wilson speculated that her son might have been trying to go to college there.

Story updated with comments about Matthew Wilson's arrest from the police department.