Few Leads In Case Of Kidnapped Reno Teen

FBI, Police Battle Bad Weather To Find College Student Who Vanished From Friend's Couch

(CBS/AP)  Investigators canvassed neighborhoods door-to-door Tuesday, searching for clues into the whereabouts of a young woman who vanished with little trace from a couch she was sleeping on at a friend's home on the edge of a university campus.

The FBI joined the investigation Tuesday as search and rescue teams, along with helicopters and police K9 units, combed the area near the home where 19-year-old Brianna Denison last was seen early Sunday.

Police suspect foul play in this case, reports CBS' The Early Show.

Detectives were awaiting test results on whether a silver dollar-sized stain on the pillow she was using is blood.

"We've established a 24-hour tip line and we are receiving info on that tip line," Reno police spokesman Steve Frady said Tuesday. "Detectives are following up on those leads and police are continuing to canvas the neighborhood, speaking to the neighbors and developing other information."

"They are trying to piece this together and hopefully bring Brianna home safely," Frady said.

"Brianna has been described as a very responsible young adult - just basically a good kid who has maintained contact with her family. She has an extremely good relationship with her family so this is really quite out of the ordinary for her."

Police believe Denison, a student at Santa Barbara City College who grew up in Reno and was visiting home over the winter break, was kidnapped while she slept on a couch at her friend's home a half-mile north of the downtown casino district and two blocks west of the campus of the University of Nevada, Reno. She last was seen around 4 a.m. Sunday.

"She was one of the most cautious and responsible friends I had," her friend K.T. Hunter told The Early Show. "She would never go anywhere without her phone. Every time we went out, she was always calling her mom."

In addition to an FBI agent, two investigators from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children joined in the search. Frady said they would concentrate on Rancho San Rafael Park near the home Tuesday afternoon before a snowstorm was expected to hit the area Tuesday night.

Friends and family said Denison was planning to return to college this week in Santa Barbara, Calif., where she is studying psychology.

After a night of attending a rap concert and venues associated with a weekend snowboarding event, police said Denison stayed at the home shared by friends and other students.

She slept on a couch near an unlocked glass door, using a 2-foot tall teddy bear as an extra pillow. The brown bear had white and multicolored balloons on its belly.

When the friend awoke, Denison and the teddy bear were gone. Her purse, cell phone and clothes, including two pairs of shoes, were undisturbed.

"We have not come up with any other clues, any of the items or anything that would lead us to Brianna at this time," Reno police Lt. Ron Holladay.

Hunter, said the couch is against the wall of her own bedroom, where she was sleeping with her dog.

Hunter said she didn't hear any noise, and the dog never barked.

Hunter said Denison was sober the night she vanished, and had planned to pack Monday to go back to school.

Family and friends described the 5-foot tall, 100 pound woman as caring and responsible. Last summer, she was mentioned in a Reno Gazette-Journal article about a wildfire on the edge of Reno because she was walking around in flip-flops handing out pitchers of water and lemonade to firefighters.

"It gives us a little bit of fear because that is the type of person Brianna is, she would be contacting us if she could," her aunt, Lauren Denison, told reporters Monday night.

Police may have already spoken to a man who gave another woman and a friend a ride that night from the Sands Hotel and Casino downtown to the home Denison was staying at.

The man is described as white, possibly of Latin descent and about 45 years old. Police said he was well dressed and of medium build.

Security surveillance tapes from the Sands showed him driving a large beige or light brown Chevrolet or GMC sport utility vehicle.

"All I know is now he cooperated with police. He voluntarily came forward," Hunter told The Early Show.

[jazzysss]

Something really foul and fishy with this story. Watched on news this morning and Hunter never looked directly to camera when speaking, arms crossed suggests she is withholding information or hiding something. The dog never barked because she is the owner and whoever did something with Brianna the dog knows this person, so it would not make any noise. Only one drop of blood? Someone is lying or trying to scam the family possibly for money or coverup what really happened to this young teenager. Hunter should be questioned more...she is not giving all details of Brianna''s whereabouts...the tears seem very fake and if there was an intruder, Hunter and the dog would have been alerted.

[jazzysss]

Something really foul and fishy with this story. Watched on news this morning and Hunter never looked directly to camera when speaking, arms crossed suggests she is withholding information or hiding something. The dog never barked because she is the owner and whoever did something with Brianna the dog knows this person, so it would not make any noise. Only one drop of blood? Someone is lying or trying to scam the family possibly for money or coverup what really happened to this young teenager. Hunter should be questioned more...she is not giving all details of Brianna''s whereabouts...the tears seem very fake and if there was an intruder, Hunter and the dog would have been alerted.

[jazzysss]

Something really foul and fishy with this story. Watched on news this morning and Hunter never looked directly to camera when speaking, arms crossed suggests she is withholding information or hiding something. The dog never barked because she is the owner and whoever did something with Brianna the dog knows this person, so it would not make any noise. Only one drop of blood? Someone is lying or trying to scam the family possibly for money or coverup what really happened to this young teenager. Hunter should be questioned more...she is not giving all details of Brianna''s whereabouts...the tears seem very fake and if there was an intruder, Hunter and the dog would have been alerted. "She was one of the most cautious and responsible friends I had," her friend K.T. Hunter told The Early Show. Why is Hunter speaking of Brianna in the past tense? Is she involved in Brianna''s disappearance? Dead give away...

[jetlizhan]

this is indeed strange - my two little dogs bark at the drop of a hat in the night, as most dogs do. what a lovely young woman; i pray she''s found alive.

[Krazcarl]

Very lovely lady if someone dragged someone out of my house in the middle of the night I''d know it,if they were quick I might miss them but would be dialing 911, I have SERIOUS RESERVATIONS about the story of where she stayed that night.

[mediabrat60]

To otionwave; What is it with you? why are you posting this blurb on all the online comment sections, regardless of the stories?

Anyway, this story does sound a little fishy, I don''t care who you are or how "sensible" one might be portrayed as.
Something does not fit.

[Krazcarl]

otionwave...your an idiot put the pipe down or bottle and leave us alone. I have repoted you as a troll.

[Krazcarl]

JAZZYSSS...Excelent point it got by me your very clever guess that why I''m a poor working man. Best post on the subject.

[Krazcarl]

matvei1107.....good point never saw it that way but true.

[ontheleft]

Missing young attractive white women will always make headlines. If you''re black, a man, ugly or old...good luck getting found.

[jalthen]

I believe K.T. tears are real. But I did think the dog not barking is strange. Also, K.T. talking about her friend in past tense, made me nervous that she knows more. I say a prayer for all who are touched by this young woman''s life. For all of the pain and uncertainty that they are going through right now. She looks and sounds like a very special person. I will pray for her and for all of you.

[keithle1]

You want CBS News to do a story every time some old geezer with Alzheimers wanders away from his nursing home?

[unrforme]

I go to UNR and I''m a friend of KT, and i can assure you she is NOT lying. She''s frantic right now, all of us are. I have a dog, and he won''t bark at anything, unless you come up and hit me. There are so many weird noises around this place at night, all the time. I live one block away from her. It''s not surprising the dog didn''t bark. There''s no way they set this up. Just so you know, in the past two months, there have been two rapes in the same area.