This article originally appeared in The Daily Free Press on March 21, but was not posted online until today because of last week’s technical difficulties.
College of Fine Arts faculty, staff and students, as well as friends of missing CFA professor John Daverio, filled the school’s Concert Hall yesterday afternoon, as CFA officials and Boston University police updated community members on the search for the professor, who disappeared Sunday night.
CFA dean ad interim Walt Meisner and two BU police detectives provided an overview of the facts surrounding the case, offering more specific information about Daverio’s actions and the efforts in finding him.
Daverio entered the College of Fine Arts building Sunday evening, logged on to his computer and sent e-mails, Meisner said. He then left the building around 6:55 p.m., re-entered through the concert hall door and returned to his office.
Daverio was last seen on security cameras at 8:39 p.m., according to Meisner, when he left the building a final time. He was wearing his “usual” red jacket and corduroy pants and took a left toward the Boston University Bridge, he said.
“There is no evidence he has returned to the building since then,” Meisner said.
Daverio’s wallet and briefcase were found in his office on Tuesday, Mesiner said, after colleagues became concerned following his failure to appear for a doctoral exam on Monday and his class on Tuesday.
Daverio is “among the most responsible individuals I know,” Meisner said. “When he did not show up for class Tuesday, it was pretty clear something was amiss.”
Meisner also said the door to Daverio’s apartment was found ajar and unlocked after a friend and the building superintendent checked his residence on Tuesday.
He confirmed that keys were found in Daverio’s apartment, but emphasized it was a large ring of keys that could have been spare or secondary keys.
Police officers used dogs in a search of the College of Fine Arts on Wednesday, BU Police Detective Patrick Nuzzi said, because the maze-like building was difficult to search.
Meisner said the canine search confirmed “there wasn’t anything amiss in this building.”
Nuzzi said police have surveyed the Charles River in the area around the College of Fine Arts, but said there are “no indicators of foul play.”
Daverio “may have just been taking a walk,” Nuzzi said. He also said Daverio might have been experiencing “tremendous stress” due to family problems stemming from the illness of his mother, who is currently in the hospital.
“Maybe he needed some time off, to maybe get away from things,” Nuzzi said.
Police are pursuing other leads, Nuzzi said, but said he was not able to discuss specifics because they might pose a risk to the case.
School of Music director Andre de Quadros said those who came to the event showed their care for Daverio by simply showing up.
“By attending this gathering you are expressing concern for John Daverio and love and admiration for him,” de Quadros said.
Jeremy Yudkin, a professor of musicology who has worked with Daverio for more than 20 years, described him as “a salt of the earth.”
“Other people have called him a prince,” he said.
Daverio’s disappearance has caused great concern among musicology students and staff, he said.
“I think everybody is very shocked, extremely worried, and, since they are academics, particularly upset since they can’t make rational sense of the facts as they know them,” Yudkin said.
Kathryn Croom, a second year CFA graduate student who is enrolled in one of Daverio’s classes this semester, said he is a dedicated and organized professor who “always knows what he’s going to do for the day.” But, Croom said, he had a sense of humor too.
“He likes to joke sometimes, too – to make sure we’re awake,” Croom said. “He’s a great professor in every way.”
Croom said the situation was “strange” and “confusing.”
“It’s just really unnerving because no one knows anything yet,” Croom said.
De Quadros encouraged the CFA community to remain optimistic.
“Hope and optimism must accompany us … with a relentless and untiring effort to have John return to us safely,” he said.
“We hope that the next gathering we call will be to welcome John back,” de Quadros said.
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