Scrawled message claims missing WWU student dead

Bellingham police are looking into a message scrawled on a poster for missing Western Washington University student Dwight Clark to see if it's credible.

The message, written on a poster hanging outside a store, said Clark had been stabbed to death.

"If there's anything remotely credible to the poster, we will respond," said Bellingham police spokesman Mark Young. "We had a huge search out, and there was no evidence of a crime scene. If the victim had been stabbed, we would have found a crime scene to validate it."

Still, said Young, police are looking into the message. "We don't have the option not to take anything seriously," he said. He hopes the person who scrawled the message on the poster will come forward.

Young said a massive search for Clark over the weekend found no new leads in the case.

It's been more than a week since the 18-year-old university freshman from Auburn disappeared after leaving a party off-campus for a six-block walk back to his dormitory. There was one blank message from his telephone early on Sept. 26, which police tied to a downtown location. His car had not been moved from its parking space.

Clark has not been heard from since he disappeared. When last seen, he was wearing bluejeans, a pink tie-dyed T-shirt and black Nikes. He is described as white, 6-foot-2 and about 160 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes.

The volunteer search effort is now on hold, Young said, while police pore over the results of the weekend search. Detectives are responding to leads only, and the grid search has been suspended, Young said. "We need a break with this case," he said. "This is still a very, very open case. People haven't given up. People have their hearts and souls into it."

Young himself isn't ready to believe that Clark is dead. "I still have hope and faith," he said. "Maybe there was some undiagnosed medical issue and he's out there wandering. That's where my hope is."

A reward, now at more than $20,000, is being offered for information about Clark. Western set up the reward fund with the Bellingham Police Department and is accepting only pledges — not cash or checks. People can make pledges to the reward fund by going to the "Find Dwight Clark" link on the WWU homepage or by going to: http://www.wwu.edu/univrelations/findDwight.shtml.

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com