This article originally appeared in The Daily Free Press on March 20, but was not posted online until today because of last week’s technical difficulties.
Boston and Boston University police are searching for a College of Fine Arts music professor who has been missing since Sunday, police and CFA officials said yesterday.
John Daverio was last seen leaving the College of Fine Arts Sunday at around 7 p.m., according to CFA spokesperson Ellen Carr. He was unaccompanied at the time, she said.
‘That’s the last time we saw him on the CFA security cameras,’ she said.
Daverio failed to attend any of his appointments or meetings on Monday, according to Boston University Police Captain Robert Molloy, and the school became concerned when no one heard from into early Tuesday morning.
Police have searched for signs of Daverio in places he frequented, Molloy said, but have found no traces of him.
‘So far we’ve checked out his apartment and we’ve checked out places where he works and is known to go, and we’re coming up with nothing,’ Molloy said.
Carr said the Boston University police came through the CFA building with dogs yesterday. She called the search ‘standard process and protocol.’ She said police went ‘from floor to floor,’ but did not evacuate the building.
Currently, police are trying to track down Daverio’s family and friends to ‘see if he maybe went somewhere,’ Molloy said.
Information regarding Daverio’s disappearance has also been entered into a national computer system, Molloy said, and BUPD officials are working with detectives in the Boston police missing persons unit.
‘We’re actively working on it,’ Molloy said. ‘We have two detectives on it – they were working on it late last night and all day today.’
He said police have no particular scenarios in mind regarding Daverio’s disappearance.
‘We have no specific idea of what might have happened,’ Molloy said. Daverio’s disappearance is being treated as an open missing person case, he said.
Carr asked that people in the university community ‘limit their speculation about the situation.’
‘If we could stick to the facts, that’s going to serve everyone best,’ she said.
Daverio, a full professor of music and chairman of the musicology department, has worked at BU since 1979, Carr said. He is unmarried, in his late 40s and lives in the Boston area, according to Carr.
She described him as a ‘dedicated faculty member – he’s in the building seven days a week.’
CFA dean ad interim Walt Meisner had similar praise for Daverio.
‘John Daverio is an admired and beloved member of the CFA community, and we’re doing everything we can to help the BU police find him as quickly as possible,’ Meisner said.
Both Carr and School of Music director Andre de Quadros said Daverio’s classes are continuing under the leadership of other School of Music professors.
‘We are all naturally very distressed about our colleague and friend,’ de Quadros said. ‘In Professor Daverio’s absence, his music colleagues are working together closely to cover his academic responsibilities.’
Carr said both CFA faculty and students were worried about Daverio.
‘Everyone is very concerned and dealing with all of that,’ she said. ‘We’re worried about his safety.’
The College of Fine Arts will hold a question and answer session about Daverio’s disappearance for students, faculty and staff tomorrow at 2 p.m. in the school’s Concert Hall, Carr said.
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