FBI assisting search for Saudi college student missing from California

By Dan Whitcomb LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The FBI has joined the search for a college student from Saudi Arabia who went missing from his Southern California home last month and has not been seen since, a spokeswoman for the agency said on Friday. Abdullah Abdullatif Alkadi, 23, was last seen at his home in the Los Angeles suburb of Reseda at around noon on Sept. 17, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Laura Eimiller, a spokeswoman for the FBI, said the agency had begun assisting in the probe at the request of the LAPD. "It's not uncommon for the bureau to provide resources on request in missing persons cases," Eimiller said. She declined to further discuss details of the FBI's involvement because Los Angeles police detectives were leading the investigation. The LAPD declined to say where they believe Alkadi, an international student at California State University, Northridge, may have gone or if they suspect he had been the victim of foul play. The missing man is described as 5 feet, 3 inches tall (1.60 metre) and weighs 110 pounds (50 kg). He was last seen wearing a blue shirt, jeans and beige shoes. The LAPD has urged the public to contact its Missing Persons Bureau with any information regarding his whereabouts. Alkadi's Twitter feed has not been updated since Sept. 14, when he posted a message in Arabic. Local KCBS-TV reported that Alkadi sold one of his cars, an Audi worth approximately $52,000, on Craigslist around the time of his disappearance. The Los Angeles Times reported that his cell phone had been traced to the city of Beaumont, some 80 miles east of Los Angeles, but that it had been deactivated. "While there is little information at this time regarding what occurred, the university is concerned with the circumstances of his disappearance," Cal State Northridge President Dianne Harrison said in a message to the campus late last month. "We have been in touch with Mr. Alkadi's family to express our support during this difficult time," Harrison said. "I ask that everyone in the campus community join me in keeping Mr. Alkadi and his family in their thoughts and hoping for his safe homecoming. (Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Sandra Maler)