Public Safety ran several test alert notifications on Sept. 27 to check the University’s Emergency Notification System. These test alerts included emails and text messages to students and staff, which explicitly stated that the alerts were only tests and should not be mistaken for real emergency notifications.

However, David Vedder ’18 reportedly misunderstood the emergency warnings. Shortly after the notifications were sent out at midday, Vedder went missing.

His roommate, Matt North-East ’18, assembled a search party that scoured the campus looking for Vedder. They spent hours searching all of Dave’s favorite spots–their hall’s common room, the pingpong table in Swartz Hall, and the basketball courts by the South Campus Apartments.

“We were exhausted, and it seemed impossible that we would find Dave,” North-East said.

The search party decided to check Bertrand Library before giving up. Finally, at midnight, North-East and his friends found Vedder curled up under a pile of bean bags on Lower Level Two of the library.

Apparently, once Vedder saw the emergency alerts, he panicked and decided to go into hiding.

“I glanced at my email inbox and text messages and saw the word ‘Emergency,’ and I freaked out. I didn’t read either message, I just booked it to the bean bags. I figured they were the safest place on campus,” Vedder said.