University of Rhode Island student Matthew Royer disappears while driving home to Pennsylvania for summer vacation
A University of Rhode Island student on his way home to Pennsylvania for summer vacation vanished last week just 40 miles from his parents' home in a quiet suburb of Philadelphia.
Matthew Royer, 21, was last seen about 2 a.m. Friday leaving a gas station near Allentown, Pennsylvania, just North of his family's home. He hasn't been seen or heard from since.
Royer left the university about 6 p.m. Thursday, after text messaging his mother to say that he'd slept late and was getting ready to leave.
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Surveillance footage from businesses along his route home and cellphone pings from nearby cell towers tracked his movements from Rhode Island to Pennsylvania. The last sighting of Royer was at the gas station near Allentown, where he bought a bottle of water.
'He bought water at the station, he opened it in the car and headed southbound on 100. He looked fine, not distraught,' his mother, Janet Royer, told ABC News' Philadelphia affiliate.
Royer was scheduled to begin work at a local golf course on Friday morning. He never showed up, and his family reported him missing that afternoon.
Pennsylvania State Police confirmed that Royer's vehicle - a silver 2008 Chevy Cobalt with Pennsylvania tags GZR-9059 - was spotted about 1 p.m. Friday on Route 501 and Route 422 in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. It's not clear whether Royer was in the vehicle.
'You couldn't ask for a better son': Royer's family says he has no reason to runaway and is generally a good kidRoyer had moved most of his belongings out of his apartment near the University of Rhode Island a few weeks prior to his disappearance. But his family says he still had some items packed in his vehicle when he disappeared, including a laptop computer and other electronic devices.
Royer's family says he has a good relationship with everyone, and would have no reason to run away.
'We've narrowed it down to 30-40 miles from our house, and we can't find him,' Janet Royer told ABC. 'You couldn't ask for a better son. It's not like him. If he wasn't coming home, he would've told me he wasn't coming home, unless he couldn't.'
Royer is described as white, 6-feet-1, and weighs 160 pounds. He has brown hair and blue eyes.Authorities are asking anyone with information to call Pennsylvania State Police Skippack at 610-584-1250 and give the reference number K03-1918501.
