Missing UMD student found ‘disoriented and dehydrated’ after multi-day search
Formerly missing University of Maryland student, Dilan Shaan Ashar, a 22-year-old senior psychology major, was found after he walked out of the woods near the Xfinity Center on Wednesday evening following an almost weeklong search effort, according to UMPD police Chief David Mitchell.
Around 7:30 p.m. last night, Howard County Search and Rescue vehicles in Lot 4b were approached by Ashar who knocked on the window and asked if they were looking for him, Mitchell said during the conference.
“Dilan came in from the cold, so to speak… he was dehydrated. He was disoriented. We know he was very hungry, and you can imagine after six days in the woods what this young man went through,” Mitchell said.
Emergency medical services arrived shortly after and Ashar was transported to the hospital where he is still undergoing treatment. Mitchell speculates that Ashar was in the wooded area nearby the Xfinity Center the several days he was gone.
Mitchell said officers will talk to Ashar later when he is ready so they can “understand more about what exactly led up to this event.”
Mitchell suspects Ashar saw the video of his family pleading for him to return then came back, while President Darryll Pines suspects Ashar saw lights from emergency vehicles searching the area and returned.
Prior to his discovery, UMPD conducted numerous searches of the Terrapin Trail Garage area after the initial report by his parents. These searches consisted of almost 50 first responders, drones, K-9s, a bloodhound and routine searches of nearby areas done by UMPD officers. These searches yielded no answers.
Because such an extensive search was conducted, Mitchell believes Ashar was on the move in the woods during the search.
Ashar was last seen on surveillance video early morning on Oct. 2 at Terrapin Trail Garage after leaving off-campus housing. The same morning, UMPD and the Prince George’s County Police Department met with Ashar’s parents who were concerned about his whereabouts.
Ashar’s family released a video via UMPD on Oct. 6 in which they said he was without his phone, wallet or any identification. In the video, they pleaded for anyone with information to contact 911.
“Dilan is a kind, thoughtful young man who cares deeply about people,” his mother said in the video, “If you [Ashar] see this or if anyone sees this, please call us or call 911.”
During the conference, Vice President of Student Affairs Patricia Perillo shared a message from the Ashar family in which they thanked everyone who aided in the search.
“Dilan especially wants to thank the students who put up flyers all over campus and the community,” the family wrote, “We will never forget… it meant more than you could know.”
When asked about his role in the investigation, Pines said he worked with a “strategy group” consisting of organizations that worked together to develop a campus-wide strategy on how they would search for Ashar.
“We invest in our people,” Perillo said, “we put our students first. We care for our families, and this is all based on this ethos that we all believe that no terp [is] left behind.”