Hundreds attend vigil for missing college student as search enters 4th day

FRANKLIN, Mass. — Hundreds of people attended a candlelight vigil Tuesday night for a 20-year-old college student that disappeared after leaving a party in Franklin over the weekend.

At least 45 police departments are assisting with the intense search for Michael Doherty, including two additional bloodhounds that were brought in to help.

MORE: Sneakers, shirt found during search for missing college student in Franklin

Doherty was last seen leaving a party on Phyllis Lane early Sunday morning, which was at the height of a Nor’easter that was pelting the area with heavy rain and strong wind.

His friends told investigators that they believed he was going to cut through the woods to head home. It’s something his friends said he has done before.

“The path he took, it’s like a discombobulated path,” friend Shawn Hanley said. “It’s not a real path. But him and his brother, they said they took it one time and I guess he thought he could do it again.”

Search crews are continuing to search a marshy area that has water that three to seven feet deep in some areas with thick mud at the bottom. Investigators said Doherty’s sneakers and T-shirt were found nearby.

In the air, the Massachusetts State Police helicopter flew in a grid for any possible signs of the Duke University student.

There was a possible lead in the search Tuesday after investigators said a bloodhound picked up Doherty’s scent in Bellingham. That led police to send out a reverse 911 call to residents asking them to check backyards or sheds for any signs of the missing college student.

Search crews resumed their search for Doherty early Wednesday morning.

Cox Media Group