Bates College Student From NH Missing In Italy
RYE, NH (CBS) - A New Hampshire family is traveling to Italy in search of their son, a college football player now missing in Rome.
John Durkin is a junior at Bates College. He is studying abroad in Rome this semester. According to his family, Durkin was last seen around 1:30 Thursday morning after spending Wednesday night at a bar with other American students.
"They were out at a bar called Sloppy Sam's which is in sort of a collegiate area," said Spence Lockhart, a close family friend. "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."
Durkin grew up in Rye, NH where his parents still live. Lockhart says the entire community is "beside themselves."
"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," Lockhart said.
The study abroad program is run through Trinity College. That school's officials notified Durkin's parents that he was missing Thursday.
His uncle and father instantly traveled to Rome to help with the search. Italian law enforcement, the U.S. embassy in Rome and the FBI are all offering assistance.
Meanwhile, in the United States, Durkin's family has launched a social media campaign aimed at connecting with other students who may have been in the area when Durkin went missing.
"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."
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