The Search
Welden didn't return to campus. Her roommate thought she must have gone to the library to study for exams, but the next morning, Welden still hadn't returned. Once the college administrators were notified, they immediately started a search of the campus itself. The Bennington County State's Attorney was notified, and the county sheriff was brought in to help with the search. Over the next couple of days, her visit to the Long Trail was discovered when one of the hikers she had approached identified her from the photo in the Bennington Banner newspaper, where he worked.
Weeks of searching ensued. The college closed for several days, and the students and faculty participated in organized searches. Hundreds of volunteers, family members, National Guard troops, students, and firefighters searched for her to no avail. Ground and air searches concentrated on the Long Trail up as far as Glastenbury Mountain (ten miles to the north), the trail's various branches, and along Vermont Route 9 from Bennington to Brattleboro. Most of the searching assumed Paula had gotten lost in the woods. When no clues were found as to her whereabouts, other theories started to be considered.
Read more about this topic: Paula Jean Welden
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