Missing University of Rhode Island Student Matthew Royer Found Safe in North Carolina … Missing on His Own Accord?

Missing 21 year old University of Rhode Island student Matthew Royer has been found unharmed in North Carolina. Matthew Royer had been missing since May 16, 2013 when he was traveling home for the summer to Collegeville, PA from his apartment at the University of Rhode Island. Surveillance video had Royer within 30 minutes from his home,but he never showed. Royer was located on Thursday but details about what took him to North Carolina have not been released. The family is asking for their privacy. According to a police statement, “The family requests that the media not contact them nor reveal his location as they wish to consider this a private and closed matter.”

Missing University of Rhode Island student Matthew Royer has been located unharmed in North Carolina, according to authorities and his family, but how he got there remains a mystery.

Royer, 21, had been last seen on May 16 on the University of Rhode Island campus. The college junior had moved out of his apartment and returned the keys, according to ABC News’ Philadelphia station WPVI.

Royer was on his way home to Skippack Township, Pa., for the summer where his family was waiting for him. He was supposed to report for work at a golf course the day after he returned home, but when he did not show up, his family reported him missing.

Royer was located on Thursday but details about what took him to North Carolina have not been released.

Make no mistake about it, I am glad that Matthew Royer has been found safe. But I have my reservations on how this might affect searches for other individuals in his age group. When some one goes “purposely” missing and the family calls for resources to help find their loved one, the question arises, “Who should be Responsible for the costs of the searches”? That is a valid question. Obviously authorities cannot and better not just say like Denis Jacobs, lead investigator in the Natalee Holloway case in Aruba, “No, this happens all the time. Just go on down to Carlos N‘ Charlie’s and have a beer. She’ll show up sometime. She probably got drunk or fell in love and ran off with someone for a few days.” But, what happens when some one does go missing on their own accord?  One thing is for certain, I hope this family gets some help for Matthew as these were not the actions of a right thinking person. Hopefully they will so that we are not later reporting further of Matthew Royer again.

21 Year Old Matthew Royer Missing Since 5/16/13 … Police Think Might have Decided to Detour From Returning Home to Skippack Township

Pennsylvania State Police suggested on Monday that the 21 year old Matthew R. Royer, who has been missing since Thursday, May 16, 2013 after leaving college in Rhode Island to come home for the summer, might have decided on his own to “detour from returning home” to Skippack Township, PA. As reported at  CBS Philadelphia,   a charge was made on his credit card that placed him at a gas station in Rhode Island at 6:30 PM and a ping off a cellphone tower showed that he was at an Allentown, PA gas station at 2 AM.  Surveillance footage from the gas station shows him making a purchase.  Matthew Royer was only about 35 miles from his home in Skippack Township at that point. Then the trail goes dark. One has to wonder though, if Royer was going to go elsewhere and detour from going home at that point, why then? He had also texted his mom that he was on his way home. Police continue to search for missing Matthew Royer.

Did Matthew Royer go missing Voluntarily?

View more videos at: http://nbcphiladelphia.com.

The Pennsylvania State Police suggested Monday that the Montgomery County 21-year-old Matthew R. Royer, who has been missing since leaving Rhode Island Thursday, might have decided on his own to detour from returning home to Skippack Township.

“While it may be a voluntary move on Matthew’s part, we are still expending all resources in this investigation to locate Matthew,” said Trooper Morgan Crummy, a spokeswoman at the State Police’s Skippack station.

As that possibility took shape in what remains a murky situation, his mother made a tearful plea for her son to contact his parents.

Personally, I am not sure if I buy into the theory that he intestinally decided to detour from home. Why would there be a trail of his path home form his college in Rhode Island, to a gas staion and purchase in Hehigh Valley, PA just 35 miles from his home and then nothing? Not a trace of any purchases or cell phone activity. However, any thing is possible

NBC Philadelphia has time line of events. Police are interviewing a witness who saw Royer’s car at Route 501 and U.S. Route 422 in Myerstown, Lebanon County, PA. However, even though it might be his car, was Royer driving?

Thursday 6:30 p.m. — Matthew Royer leaves his Rhode Island apt. and heads for home

Friday 1:58 a.m. — police trace Royer’s last cell phone ping — or signal to a cell tower –  in the Allentown area.

Friday 2:07 a.m. — Surveillance video of Matthew buying gas and water at a Sunoco along Route 100 in Allentown

Friday 1 p.m. — Royer’s car seen at Route 501 and U.S. Route 422 in Myerstown, Lebanon County, Pa.

That last location is about an hour and 15 minutes from Royer’s home.

For more updates, read others opinions and analysis and provide your own, go to Scared Monkeys Missing Persons: Matthew Royer.

Anyone with information about him can call the Skippack state police station at 610-584-1250

21 Year Old Matthew Royer Missing Since 5/16/13, Last Seen Leaving his Apartment at the University of Rhode Island Heading Home to Collegeville, PA

21 year old college student Matthew Royer has been missing since Thursday,  May 16, 2013. Matthew Royer was last seen on Thursday leaving his apartment at the University of Rhode Island. He was headed home for the summer to Collegeville, PA; however, never arrived at his family’s home. Matthew left Rhode Island at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Matthew Royer is driving his 2008 Silver Chevy Cobolt with PA License Plate GZR9059. It is reported that he was captured on a surveillance video driving south on Route 309 from a Hess station in Coopersburg, PA.

Missing – 21 Year Old Matthew Royer

Matthew is believed to be driving his 2008 Silver Chevy Cobolt with PA License Plate GZR9059.

His family tells Action News Matthew was captured on surveillance video driving south on Route 309 from a Hess station in Coopersburg, Pa.

Matthew Royer is described a white male, 6’1, 160 pounds, with blue eyes, and brown hair.

UPDATE I: College student reported missing last spotted in Lehigh County:

The mother of Matthew Royer said her son’s cell phone pinged off of a tower near Route 78 and Vera Cruz Road in Upper Saucon Township. Ten minutes later, she said a camera from a gas station recorded his silver 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt driving past the station in Coopersburg at 2 a.m. Friday.

At some point, he made a transaction at a Sunoco station near Route 100 in Breinigsville, said Janet Royer, the student’s mother.

The sighting fits within the time frame if he left Rhode Island at 6:30 p.m. Thursday like he had told mom.

Map of 240 Pennsylvania Rt 100, Breinigsville, PA to Collegeville, PA

View Larger Map

For more updated, to read others opinions and analysis and to provide your own, go to Scared Monkeys Missing Persons Forum: Matthew Royer.

If anyone has any information with regards to Matthew Royer’s whereabouts, please contact Sate Police Skippack Barracks at 610-584-1250.