Teen's bag found

Teen's bag found
Search for missing Stevenson senior to resume today
Originally published Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2007

By Nadia Malik
Daily Herald Staff Writer

Wisconsin police have found more personal belongings of a Stevenson High School senior who has been missing since Saturday.
Lee Cutler, 18, of Buffalo Grove was last seen 9:50 a.m. Saturday when he dropped a friend off at his home. He was supposed to go to work at noon Saturday at Rock America in Vernon Hills but didn't show up.
The Sauk County sheriff's police on Monday found Cutler's gray 2007 Toyota Corolla parked off Highway 33 near Baraboo, Wis.
The police and fire departments have been conducting a search on foot and in the air since then.
On Tuesday, police announced that they had also found blankets and a backpack belonging to Cutler near the Baraboo River.
"Everything in the backpack and the car is sort of the typical 18-year-old's stuff," said Daniel De Grazia, a family friend who is also in Wisconsin. "There's some writing, some paperwork; the car is filled with CDs and an iPod."
Beth Frazin, Cutler's mother, and Barry Frazin, his stepfather, traveled to Sauk County as soon as they heard the car was found there.
Barry Frazin said Cutler went to a birthday part Friday and spent the night at a friend's house.
"We don't really know why he came here," he said.
Frazin said Cutler has an ex-girlfriend in Cedarburg, north of Milwaukee, but that still didn't explain why his car was in Sauk County, which is west of Milwaukee.
Tracking of calls on Cutler's cell phone show that he used it last at 12:30 a.m. Saturday.
Frazin said Cutler had been going through a difficult time, coping with his grandmother's battle with cancer, another friend with cancer and stresses at school.
Cutler's friends and family have set up a Facebook group to involve those who know him in the search.
"One of the things that's really impressed me with both the Buffalo Grove police department and the sheriff's department is that I'm left with the belief that these guys are acting like it's one of their own kids out here," De Grazia said.
He said the sheriff's police has discouraged family and friends from joining in the search since the terrain is fairly rugged.
De Grazia said the heavily wooded area might have been something that caught Cutler's eye, since he enjoyed being outdoors.
However, he said the Baraboo River isn't a scenic one and could pose a danger.
"This is worse than any natural disaster for a parent - for a kid to go missing," he said.
Police have said that they don't think foul play is involved. De Grazia said it gave the family a little hope that the personal belongings were found.
"It raises as many questions as hope," he said.
The Sauk County sheriff's department called off the search early Tuesday evening and will resume the search this morning.
Cutler, who is 5'10" and 140 pounds, was last seen wearing a dark blue sweater, khakis and a red-striped kippah.
Anyone with information should call Buffalo Grove police at (847) 459-2560 or the Sauk County sheriff's department at (608) 356-4895.
- Daily Herald news services contributed to this report.