Story perspectives

Police Rescue Missing 22-Year-Old Dilan Ashar Near Xfinity Center

By Drooid · Oct 9, 2026, 5:59 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Police Find Missing Student

Police found 22-year-old Dilan Ashar alive in woods near the Xfinity Center on Oct. 8.
He had been missing since Oct. 2 after surveillance captured him near the Terrapin Trail Garage.
University of Maryland Police searched 110 acres with drones, K-9 units and 50 responders.
Chief David Mitchell said Ashar was dehydrated, disheveled, scared and hungry and received medical care.

Summary

University Offers Counseling

University of Maryland pledged mental-health counseling and chaplain services for students processing the disappearance.
The family’s video urged local residents to review doorbell, car and business camera footage from early Friday onward.
Community members were asked to post missing-person signs around storefronts to aid the search.
Resources, including self-help tools and crisis hotlines, will stay open for weeks to support recovery.

History

Historical Context

After the National Institute of Justice funded DNA-based missing-person initiatives in 2003 and the 2005 Identifying the Missing summit created a task force, the Department of Justice supported NamUs’s Unidentified Persons database launch in 2007 and added a Missing Persons database in 2008. In 2009 the two databases were linked, enabling coordinated searches like Chief David Mitchell’s 50-person effort for student Dilan Ashar.

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Police Find Missing Student

Police found 22-year-old Dilan Ashar alive in woods near the Xfinity Center on Oct. 8.
He had been missing since Oct. 2 after surveillance captured him near the Terrapin Trail Garage.
University of Maryland Police searched 110 acres with drones, K-9 units and 50 responders.
Chief David Mitchell said Ashar was dehydrated, disheveled, scared and hungry and received medical care.

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