Missing student found after walking out of woods: 'Are you looking for me?'

Nicole Pilsbury, The Baltimore Sun on Oct 8, 2026

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BALTIMORE -- Details have emerged on University of Maryland student Dilan Shaan Ashar, who was found Wednesday night and reunited with his family.

At a news conference Thursday, University of Maryland President Darryll J. Pines recalled receiving a phone call at about 7:30 p.m. with the words, “Darryll, we found him.”

The 22-year-old went missing last week. He was last seen Friday at 2:30 a.m. at the Terrapin Trail Garage, a parking garage on the north side of campus, about half an hour after leaving his residence.

University of Maryland Police Department Chief David B. Mitchell said Ashar was found wearing the same clothes he was last seen in when he emerged from the woods near the university’s Xfinity Center on Wednesday night.

“When you look at Dilan’s, what we believe to be, mental frame of mind at the time, it spoke to us that he is in need of immediate assistance,” Mitchell said after discussing some of the stressors college students endure.

Mitchell said the student was disoriented, dehydrated and hungry. He knocked on the side of a Howard County search-and-rescue vehicle and asked, “Are you looking for me?”

He was later transported to medical treatment, where he currently remains.

“This is what it’s all about,” Mitchell said about the Ashars’ reunion. “The family is elated to be reunited with their son.”

Mitchell said officials cannot yet pinpoint exactly why Ashar was in the woods. He expects more details to emerge after police debrief him.

The UMPD chief said parents often call out of concern, but this case was different because Ashar did not have his phone, wallet or identification.

“We had reason to believe that Dilan could be in grave danger,” Mitchell said. “This was a young guy in need of immediate attention and assistance.”

Nearly 50 first responders and nine dogs conducted a 110-acre search of the area around the parking garage on Sunday but were unable to find Ashar. Searches, which included the Maryland State Police, continued until he was found Wednesday.

Hundreds of acres and campus buildings were repeatedly searched during the six-day mission, Mitchell said. Footage from thousands of cameras was also analyzed during the investigation, he added.

Ashar was found in an area that had not been searched, explaining why efforts involving thermal drone cameras proved unsuccessful.

The student was also reported missing to Prince George’s County on Sept. 20, according to the county’s missing persons public portal. Mitchell said the report was inaccurate but was made in good faith.

Ashar is a psychology student at UMD and interned at the American Psychological Association, according to his LinkedIn.

Mitchell and university administration emphasized the role of the campus community and social media, saying sharing Dilan’s photo and the family’s video plea helped to spread the word about the search.

“It is heartening to see how many lives were touched during this investigation,” Mitchell said. “We’re talking hundreds of thousands.”

Ashar’s family thanked the university administration, the university’s police department and those involved in the investigation in a statement read by UMD Vice President Patricia Perillo at the news conference.

“Dilan is safe and our family is together again. As parents and brother, we can’t fully put into words what that means to us,” the family said in the statement. “We saw firsthand how far this university will go for one of its students. … We are proud that Dilan is a Terp.”