Bloomington friends react to news of Steffey's death

Local residents who knew him best were saddened to hear the news that Bloomington native Wade Steffey was found dead on the campus of Purdue University after being reported missing more than two months ago.\nMany were relieved that the Steffey family had finally found their son, though questions still surrounded his death.\n“Hopefully the family can have some form of closure. I’m sure there’s no complete closure, but as his father said, at least they have their son,” said Steffey’s former cross country coach Larry Williams.\nWilliams said that he found it hard to relate to what the Steffey family has experienced.\n“Being a father myself, I can’t imagine not knowing what has happened to your child,” he said. “That whole mystery had to be so emotionally draining for them, so at least they know.”\nSenior Joshua Stidd was one of Steffey’s cross country teammates at Bloomington High School South. Stidd participated in the many search attempts, and community activities regarding Steffey.\n“There’s a lot of talk about unifying the community, and it’s sad to see that a bad situation brought this out,” Stidd said. “In Bloomington there was a lot of outpouring of support, and that was good to see.”\nHe said that he saw community unification when he helped organize a group of more than 25 people to attend a search party that was held in January. Stidd received numerous offers of hospitality from Tippecanoe County residents, as they offered to open their homes for the search party to stay.\nPeople have raised questions as to why the high voltage utility room Steffey was found in was not thoroughly searched earlier. Purdue officials thought it was unnecessary to search the room thoroughly because the room was locked by two doors, and thought to be inaccessible, according to reports.\nSteffey’s former cross country teammates were devastated by the news. Williams said that he addressed his team today during their daily meeting. He told them that Steffey had been found.\n“As I was looking around at the boys, some of them close to Wade, it was hard to look at the boys that were the closest to him and see the blank looks on their faces,” he said. “I wanted them to have the facts straight.”\nGrief and sadness overwhelmed many people upon hearing of Steffey’s death.\n“I think there’s a real sadness in everyone’s hearts with what’s happened,” Williams said. “But again there’s a sense of relief that they know what’s happened now and they can begin to fully deal with their emotions.”