PHILADELPHIA _ Bermuda police have launched an islandwide search for a St. Joseph's University freshman who has been reported missing while on a rugby team tour to the British island territory.
Mark Dombroski, 19, of Media, Pa., was last seen on a close circuit TV (CCTV) video at 1:15 a.m. Sunday about 1.5 miles away from a bar he had left an hour earlier.
At a news conference with police, his mother, Lisa Dombroski, joined by her husband, John, and two other sons, said: " We dearly love our son, we cherish our son. ... We want him back."
She thanked the citizens of Bermuda and the police for "standing shoulder to shoulder with us during this ordeal."
Police said it was too early to suspect foul play and that they were treating the disappearance as a missing person case.
Saying they were checking every public CCTV on the 20.5-square-mile island, police said they appealed to residents and businesses to check their private surveillance cameras and asked taxi drivers working early Sunday to try and recall if they saw anyone matching Dombroski's description.
Police provided this timeline:
Dombroski had been out with teammates at the Dog House bar on Hamilton's waterfront but left them about midnight.
At 1:09 a.m. he was spotted nearby on a CCTV camera. At 1:15 a.m. another camera picked him up and showed him on talking on a cell phone on Middle Road about 1.5 miles from the Dog House and away from where the team was staying.
His family reported him missing at 9:39 a.m. Sunday.
Dombroski's parents had been on the island to watch the St. Joseph's rugby team take part in the Ariel Re Bermuda International 7's Tournament. They were supposed to return to the United States later Sunday.
Responding to questions about Dombroski's state of mind, his mother said her son had no apparent problems. Lisa Dombroski said her son had hurt his shoulder and "wasn't feeling well."
"He wasn't in a celebratory mood," she said.
St. Joseph's said in a statement that the university learned Sunday that Dombroski had been reported missing. "Saint Joseph's University is in touch with Mark's family and Bermuda authorities and continues to pray for his safe return," the statement said.
