RTD Could Hold Clues In Missing CU Student Case

BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4) - Volunteers gathered Wednesday morning in Boulder to search trails for a missing University of Colorado student, and now the Regional Transportation District is helping in the investigation.

Tyler Allen, 20, is a sophomore communications student at CU in Boulder. His parents told CBS4 nobody has seen him since April 11, although friends received text from him on April 16.

Berry and Sheryl Allen are hoping someone knows where their son is. They've come to Colorado from Western Springs, Illinois, a Chicago suburb where Tyler grew up.

Allen's family says he loves to hike, so his parents organized a search of nearby trails. A Facebook page was created asking for volunteers to help search for Tyler. A group of volunteers met Wednesday morning in the parking lot at the base of the Chautauqua Trail on Baseline Road where they began their search.

The ended in the afternoon and no clues were found.

"It's not just our search efforts, it's really the police and the community, students -- it's everybody, everybody out there is looking for him and we're just so grateful for that," Sheryl Allen said.

"It's more-so just about us coming together as a community and rallying to find our family member," CU student Carina Gilford said.

Tyler got to Boulder in January after enrolling as a transfer student. He lives off campus with roommates and police say they've found nothing at Allen's home that's suspicious.

Allen's parents say their son does not have a vehicle or a bike, and hasn't accessed his bank account in days, leaving few clues as to where he may be.

His parent's say Tyler loves music and sings in the campus choir. They believe he's carrying his guitar and a laptop.

Police said five search dog teams searched the Chautauqua Trail area and Mount Sanitas on Tuesday and found nothing. They also said they're looking into tips they've received from people in the community.

One tip came from somebody who saw a person matching Tyler's description pass through the Boulder RTD station on Sunday, but the person didn't board a bus. RTD confirmed that they were contacted by a detective and have pulled surveillance video from that day and are reviewing it.

Tyler is described as a white male, 140 pounds with blonde hair and blue eyes. Anyone who has any information about his whereabouts is asked to call the police.