John Durkin, a Bates College student from New Hampshire, has gone missing, it was reported Friday.
Durkin, a 21-year-old junior who attended the Maine college and was studying in Rome, Italy, has been missing since Wednesday morning, according to the Bangor Daily News, citing his family.
Durkin, of Rye Beach, was seen last by friends at 1:30 a.m. at the Sloppy Sam’s bar in the Campo de Fiori area in Rome. He was studying abroad for the semester.
“They were out at a bar called Sloppy Sam’s which is in sort of a collegiate area,” said Spence Lockhart, a family friend, told CBS Boston. “He stayed on a little bit later. They had gone back to their dormitories and he stayed on and that’s the last time they saw him.”
Lockhart added that there’s “no cell phone. There’s no activity. There’s no activity on his credit cards, nothing that would indicate he’s traveling outside the area. That’s why we’re so concerned.”
Durkin, slated to graduate in 2015, was studying economics and is a linebacker on the school’s football team.
Bates College, in a statement, said that staff “are working actively with the Italian authorities to determine the circumstances surrounding his disappearance.”
“We are very concerned about John and will share further news as it becomes available,” it reads.
He’s described as 6 feet, inch tall, and is approximately 210 pounds with an athletic build and brown hair.
Durkin’s family initiated a social media push to help locate John.
“All it takes is one person that saw him. It’s a crowded area. It’s like losing someone in Faneuil Hall. There’s got to be someone there that saw him,” Lockhart said.
Brian Durkin, his cousin, set up a Facebook page to help with the search, and the family is also updating the case via a Twitter account.
“US Embassy in Rome has been a big help as well as local authorities. Anyone live in the Campo de Fiore area near Sloppy Sam’s?” the account tweeted Friday evening.
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