2 men questioned in Steffey case

Two men from Park Hills, Mo., were questioned Monday in the disappearance of missing Purdue University freshman, Wade Steffey. But Purdue police came up with no evidence that the men were involved, after interviewing the former possible suspects.\nCapt. Tim Potts of the Purdue University Police Department, said an officer and two detectives were sent to interview the men and "are as sure as you can be that they were not involved." \nDavid Bradley, 27, and Jeffrey Thurman, 21, were charged in the beating death of a 56-year-old Farmington, Mo., man who had been missing Jan. 12, according to a press release. The man went missing the day before Steffey, a Bloomington High School South graduate, disappeared after leaving a Phi Theta Kappa fraternity party at Purdue. Potts said the only information found was the two men were in the Lafayette area at the time of Steffey's disappearance on Jan. 13.\nWade Steffey's father, Dale Steffey, said he was not informed that the interview was going to take place but was informed afterward.\n"They were telling us they may have had a path to take, but it turned out not to be the path that we needed," Dale Steffey said.\nMeanwhile, Dale Steffey and his wife, Dawn Adams, both residents of Bloomington, are home today after having fears of leaving Purdue.\n"We met with counselors earlier today (Jan. 22) because we were having a lot of anxieties about leaving," Steffey said. "That really helped us a lot emotionally and to talk to Team ADAM and to hear the experience they have, we have a little bit more hope right now than we've had for a few days," said Steffey with an upbeat attitude.\nSteffey said Team ADAM, a search and rescue team from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children interviewed him and his wife for about 1 1/2 hours to explain who they were and what they provided.\n"We also learned today that (Team ADAM) brought in six or eight more detectives from surrounding agencies to assist with the case," Dale Steffey said.\nTeam ADAM is an "on-site response and support system that provides human and technical assistance to local law enforcement agencies," according to the Center for Missing and Exploited Children's Web site. It is named after America's Most Wanted host Jon Walsh's son. Adam Walsh was kidnapped and murdered in 1981.\n"We'll definitely be resting in Bloomington tonight. We're really looking forward to be back in Bloomington," said Steffey. "We really love living there. We'll be happy to be home tonight."\nWhile Potts said there were no new leads, he did say that people in the area where Steffey likely went missing, are "paying attention to what's out in the media and they're calling in if they have new information."\nPotts is asking people to call Purdue police if they were out from midnight to 3 a.m., Jan. 13 near north of Third Street on the Purdue campus.\n"Somebody out there right now heard something, or saw something and everyday that goes by their memory is going to get fainter and fainter," he said.\nSteffey is asking anyone who heard a cell phone ring in that area from Jan. 13 to Jan. 17 to call Purdue Police.\n"Somebody could have heard that cell phone ring and thought it was a little odd and kept on going with their business," he said. "But if they could tell the police where they were when they heard that phone, it would really narrow the search parameters down," Steffey said.\n"We're interested in anything they heard or saw," said Potts. "And we'll run that lead out, whether it takes us anywhere or whether it doesn't. But we have to have help from the public."\nAnyone with information leading to Wade Steffey's disappearance is encouraged to call the Purdue University Police Department at (765) 494-8221 or call (765) 494-1089 with anonymous tips. A reward fund, established by Steffey's family and friends, is being administered by Fifth Third Bank in Central Indiana.