As the search for missing Penn State student Cindy Song continues, the communities of universities across the country also are conducting searches to locate other missing students.

Numerous cases of missing men and women are reported each year, and the National Crime Center reports 98,697 people are missing in the United States. Of this number, 55 percent are women, and 3,492 of these women are between the ages of 22 and 29.

Although the disappearance of Song is the first experience that Penn State has had with a missing student, countless families and friends have been faced with the loss of someone who seems to have simply vanished from campus and hasn't been heard from since.

"I think that every time we had a report the person has shown up or they had just gone out of town without telling anyone," said Penn State spokesman Gary Cramer concerning missing students at the university.

But Song, who was last seen in the early morning hours of Nov. 1, has not been heard from since her disappearance. Other college students across the country also have vanished, as police continue to search for clues.

Jill Behran

Indiana University student Jill Behrman was last seen going on a bike workout outside of campus on May 31, 2000. She was scheduled to work at the university's sports center and was to meet her father for lunch at 3 p.m. but never showed up at either location. According to the Bloomington Police Department, on Friday, June 5, Jill's bicycle was found undamaged, near a cornfield 10 miles away from where she was last seen riding. Since the discovery of her bicycle, there have been more than 1,300 leads, however, Behrman has yet to be found.

"There is a big hole in our hearts and in our lives right now," said her brother Eric Behrman in a note of thanks to all of those who have helped in the search for his sister.

The FBI in Bloomington, Ind., has some very promising leads.

"If there is a silver lining, one positive thing is that we have had great cooperation from all the agencies in the area," FBI agent Gary Dunn said.

"We have been very blessed. Jill's case has been featured on such shows as Unsolved Mysteries, America's Most Wanted and Good Morning America. The case has aged, but we are not going to give up and we will never give up," Dunn said. "Our goal from day one was to bring Jill home to her family, and we will do that."

Kristen Modaferri

Kristen Modaferri, a North Carolina State University student, had plans to spend her summer in San Francisco and take classes at the University of California at Berkeley. According to her family's Web site, she was working at a coffee shop in downtown San Francisco until 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. On June 23, 1997, the day before her classes were to begin, she left work and was never seen again.

Kristin Smart

Kristin Smart, a student at California Polytechnic State University, was last seen on May 25, 1996. According to an article reprinted from The Record in Stockton, Calif., the last person to see her was student Paul Flores, who walked her from a party to an area near her dormitory. It has been more than five years since her disappearance, and there have been no new leads in the case.

"The reality is there are never any guarantees," her mother, Denise Smart, said in the article. "But as a family, just knowing that everything possible that can be done is being done, it not only restores your faith in law enforcement, I mean, it's a reason to hope."

In most of these cases, area police, state police, and the FBI have become involved. In the event that a student is reported missing, there are several steps that are initially taken to investigate such a report.

Tony Camechis, head of operations at the Ohio University Police Department said that there is a checklist of things that are done when a student is first reported missing.

"It depends on the circumstances," Camechis said. "We do things such as check residence halls, check class schedules to see if they have showed up for class, and we call family and friends."

Although the number of missing women reported is higher than that of men, there have been several reports of male students who have vanished from college campuses as well.

Keith Noble

Keith Noble, a student at Ohio University, was reported missing in April 1998. There was a tremendous search throughout the town that involved the community and the university. According to a press release about his disappearance, Noble was last seen around 1:10 a.m. at a party near campus.

The search for Noble included search dogs, horses, bicycles, a boat and a helicopter.

Dwight Woodward, former director of Ohio University News Services and now director of International Relations at the university, said there were massive searches of the town including pictures put up by students, as well as front page news articles and television stations covering the search.

Justin Hayduk

A similar case was the disappearance of University of Pittsburgh student Justin Hayduk, who according to an article in The Pitt News, was last seen on March 10 in Morgantown, W.Va. The article reported on that day Hayduk and a friend had been drinking and were stopped by a West Virginia Police Officer. Hayduk ran from the scene, and the only lead that police had was that his hat was found near the Monogahela River.

After a search of the river and no new leads, Hayduk's father, Michael Hayduk, began a search of his own.

"(His father) was almost overly optimistic," said Eric Lidji, senior staff writer for The Pitt News. "He put out ads in the area, in 7 Elevens and consulted psychics."

In this case, Hayduk's body was found in late May, in the Monogahela River. However, the story behind his death has not been uncovered.

Chris Gerspacher

More recently, the disappearance of Ohio State University student Chris Gerspacher also has become a mystery. An article in The Lantern, the student newspaper for the university, reported that Gerspacher was last seen around 9:30 p.m. on Dec. 22. His apartment door had been left unlocked, and the television and lights had been left on. His car was parked out front, and his ID, keys and a few hundred dollars were inside of his apartment, said his father, Bob Gerspacher.

"His parents and their church come to campus every Sunday to put up pictures," said Megan E. Walsh, of The Lantern. "The family still has hope, but only one person has contacted the police, and there have been no leads."

Gerspacher's parents contacted the police when their son never showed up for the Christmas holiday.

"Chris loves the holidays. He has never missed this day with his family," his mother, Holly Gerspacher, told The Lantern.

Walsh also reported that no evidence has been found, and the police have ruled out suicide.

The search for Song, the missing Penn State student, also continues. The 21-year-old integrative arts major was last seen near her West Clinton Avenue apartment. She is 5'1" tall and weighs about 115 lbs. Song, of Korean descent, has long black hair and was last seen wearing a short white skirt, pink top, knee-high brown boots and red-hooded coat. The Ferguson Township Police Department asks anyone with information to call 814-237-1172 or 1-800-479-0050.