LEWISTON, Maine — A 21-year-old Bates student studying in Rome has been missing since early Wednesday morning, his family said Friday.
John Durkin, 21, of Rye Beach, N.H., was last seen by friends at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday at Sloppy Sam’s bar in the Campo de Fiori section of Rome, his uncle, Tom Durkin, told the Bangor Daily News on Friday.
John Durkin is a junior at Bates studying economics and a linebacker on the college’s football team. He is studying this semester in Rome through a program offered by Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.
“On-site staff from Trinity are working actively with the Italian authorities to determine the circumstances surrounding his disappearance,” Bates College said in a statement late Friday afternoon. “We are very concerned about John and will share further news as it becomes available.”
According to the family, the director of the program filed a report with Rome police on Thursday. Family members are traveling to Rome to aid in the search.
John Durkin is described as 6 feet, 1 inch tall, about 210 pounds, with brown hair and an athletic build.
Durkin’s cousin, Brian Durkin, a Bowdoin College alumnus, has created a Facebook page to aid in the search. The family is also communicating on Twitter with the handle @JDurkinMissing.