Police give update on missing Duquesne University grad student

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh police gave an update Tuesday afternoon about the case of a Duquesne University student who disappeared more than a month ago.

LATEST: City doing everything it can to find missing North Side man

At a news conference, police listed the timeline of events of the missing-person investigation centered on Dakota James.

HAPPENING NOW: Pittsburgh police give update on search for Dakota James, the Duquesne University graduate student who hasn’t been seen since Jan. 25. STORY on.wpxi.com/2mpOguy
Posted by WPXI-TV Pittsburgh on Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Detectives said the last time the 23-year-old was spotted on surveillance video was when he was walking in Katz Plaza on the night of Jan. 25. Police said they checked every piece of surveillance video the night he disappeared, but they lost track of Dakota at Fort Duquesne Boulevard.

To date, there has been no activity with his cellphone, which goes to voicemail, or his bank account.

Channel 11 was there each time divers searched all three rivers, including the shorelines near the 7th Street Bridge. Police said they have also searched landfills and homeless camps, and interviewed someone he had contact with on a social app.

Detectives said they've checked each and every tip, retraced his steps the night he disappeared, and spoken with his friends, coworkers and family.

When asked if police suspected foul play, Pittsburgh police Chief Scott Schubert said, "It's a missing person's investigation. We don't have any evidence to suggest that right now."

Dakota's family was not at Tuesday's briefing, which ended with police asking if anyone who might have had contact with Dakota the night he disappeared to please come forward.

"We can't even imagine what the family is going through," Schubert said. "We are going to continue to search. We want to find Dakota for his family."

On Monday, it was announced that volunteers would resume search efforts for James this weekend.

Volunteers are needed for three separate search locations: North Park, Allegheny Arsenal Park and Riverview Park.

The search of North Park will take place on Saturday. People are asked to meet at the North Park Boathouse at 9 a.m.

Allegheny Arsenal Park and Riverview Park will be searched on Sunday. Both efforts will begin at 9 a.m. People should meet at the Chapel in Riverview Park and by the tennis courts in Arsenal Park.

The searches are being organized by the group Bring Our Missing Home. They have a signup sheet on their website.

There is a $10,000 reward for information that leads to finding James.

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