Hope, Mystery Surround Missing Student Case One Year Later

May 24, 2005 — -- Various "persons of interest" have been dismissed and little progress has been made in the year that has passed since Brigham Young University student Brooke Wilberger disappeared. However, Wilberger's relatives remain hopeful, though resigned, to whatever outcome lies ahead in the search for their missing loved one.

"We would like to thank all those who continue to support Brooke and her family. Many continue to think and pray and hope for her return," Wilberger's parents, Greg and Cammy, and her family said in a written statement released Sunday. "We have received much strength from your support and encouragement. We all miss Brooke's happy spirit. It has been a long year and we have had to learn to be patient and trust in God. We hope she is able to come home but we will accept whatever the outcome."

One year ago today, Wilberger disappeared from the Corvallis, Ore., apartment complex her sister manages. Police say Wilberger, 19 at the time, was last seen May 24, 2004, as she was helping with some cleaning chores. Authorities believed Wilberger's disappearance was suspicious because her cleaning supplies were left behind, her flip-flops were found in the complex parking lot, and her cell phone and other personal items were left behind in her sister's apartment.

Hundreds of volunteers have helped in the search for Wilberger and held several prayer vigils for her safe return. Wilberger's story has generated national headlines, as her case was featured on "America's Most Wanted." The family of Elizabath Smart, the Utah girl whose 2002 kidnapping and safe recovery nearly a year later, contacted the Wilbergers to give them support and advice.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children sent retired investigators to help local authorities with the search and released four computer-generated photos showing how she might look with various hair lengths and styles. A "Find Brooke" Web site (www.findbrooke.com) was set up to help in the search and the Wilbergers had pink bracelets with the address of the Web site and national hotline tip number made to increase awareness of the case.

But the national spotlight on Wilberger has faded in the year since her disappearance. Though official organized searches for Wilberger ended last June and fewer bracelets have been sold in recent months, Corvallis residents have not forgotten about the missing student. Members of the First Presbyterian Church have no plans to take down a plastic banner hanging on the church's message board that reads, "Pray for the Safe Return of Brooke."

"The sign is going to stay up for a while," the church's senior minister, John Dennis, said in a recent report. "I hope something unexpectedly good comes out of this."

Prominent Focus on Alleged Panty Thief

Police say they have focused on several different persons of interest but have been unable to directly link anyone to Wilberger's disappearance.

For a while, police investigated a man who has been accused of stealing women's underwear from three different Portland-area college dormitories or laundry rooms, including an April 2004 burglary at Oregon State University's Sacket Hall -- which is near the site where Wilberger was last seen. In February, Corvallis police said they had found no evidence that linked the alleged panty thief, Sung Koo Kim, to Wilberger's disappearance.

"It was nothing earth-shattering. We just finished following all the leads and tips we had on Kim. He's a pretty complex man," Lt. Ron Noble, a spokesman for the Corvallis police department, said at the time. "We wanted to be as thorough as we could. With as much notoriety as Kim has received, we would hate for people to think that we were at a dead end, that this a cold case. That would be far from the truth."

Family, Authorities Not Giving Up

Authorities have continued to say the Wilberger investigation is not a cold case. At the end of February, police and Wilberger's family sought the public's help in finding a sweat shirt matching the one worn by the student when she disappeared. According to Zak Hansen, Wilberger's brother-in-law, the shirt was a medium blue with "FreshJive" written it in a metallic kind of print.

Police believe the sweat shirt -- which is no longer made by the manufacturer -- was made in either 1999 or 2000 and that a matching item of clothing could prove valuable if investigators find fabric evidence that they can compare in a crime lab. They are still waiting to find a matching sweat shirt.

Wilberger's family and Corvallis, police plan to hold a news conference today to discuss the status of the search for Wilberger. Hansen said the family is not entirely comfortable in the media spotlight but it is determined to keep her in the public eye.

"She [Wilberger] could be anywhere," Hansen said. "Somebody out there knows something. They just may not know it."

Authorities have offered a $30,000 reward for information leading to Brooke Wilberger's recovery. The Wilberger family has offered another $6,000 while a separate $5,000 reward has been offered by the Carole/Sund/Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation.

Anyone with information about Brooke's disappearance is urged to call please contact Corvallis Police Department at 541-766-6989 (Brooke Wilberger Tip Line Case No: 04C03557) or the tip line at (877) 367-2270 or send an e-mail to tips@findbrooke.com. People can also call the national tip line at (800) 843-5678. For complete information, Wilberger's family encourages others to visit www.findbrooke.com.

ABC News Affiliate KATU News in Portland, Ore., contributed to this report.