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Wisconsin college student will seek plea bargain
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A college student who staged her own disappearance last month will try to reach a plea agreement and avoid trial on charges she obstructed officers, her attorney said Thursday.
The hunt for Audrey Seiler cost about $96,000, according to police.
Family photo via MPD, APAudrey Seiler, 20, a University of Wisconsin-Madison sophomore from Rockford, Minn., faces up to nine months in jail and a $10,000 fine for each of two misdemeanor charges. Her attorney, Randy Hopper, appeared on her behalf Thursday in Dane County Circuit Court.Hopper said he will meet with District Attorney Brian Blanchard but would not elaborate what kind of agreement he would like to reach for Seiler.Seiler will remain free on a signature bond, Court Commissioner Todd Meurer said. Hopper said Seiler was home with her parents in Rockford, Minn."She obviously is dealing with a lot of trauma related to this, she's going through a very difficult time. She's having both some emotional and some physical problems to deal with as you might expect somebody who's gone through something like this," Hopper said after appearing in court.Seiler disappeared from her off-campus apartment March 27 without her coat or purse. She was discovered curled in a fetal position in a marsh four days later, and told police that a man had abducted her at knifepoint.But police concluded Seiler made up the story after obtaining a store videotape that showed her buying the knife, duct tape, rope and cold medicine she claimed her abductor used to restrain her. Seiler confessed after she was confronted with the tape, according to authorities."I set up everything. I'm just so messed up. I'm sorry," they quoted her as saying. But she later recanted the statement, insisting she had been abducted.Asked about the possibility of a plea bargain, Blanchard said his office always tries to reach an agreement "if that can be done in the interest of justice and reaching a fair result. ... We'll see if that's possible with this case."The criminal complaint depicts Seiler as a young woman upset by a fading relationship with her boyfriend, Ryan Fisher.Friends said the two had been fighting, and Seiler's roommate, Heather Thue, told officers that Fisher did not pay as much attention to Seiler as she wanted. Seiler's mother told police her daughter had not been herself lately and was "extremely needy" of Fisher.Three days before she disappeared, her laptop was used to log onto Fisher's e-mail account and read exchanges "with romantic overtones" between him and another woman, according to the complaint.Hundreds of people from Madison and Seiler's hometown searched for her after she disappeared, and her claim about an armed man touched off a major manhunt that authorities said cost the police about $96,000.A message left at Seiler's home in Rockford, Minn., was not immediately returned. There was no answer at the campus telephone number for Fisher.MADISON, Wis. -- A University of Wisconsin-Madison student who was assaulted last month in a bizarre incident has now been reported missing.
Police and volunteers are searching for 20-year-old Audrey R. Seiler of Rockford, Minn., who was last seen early Saturday near her off-campus apartment. A Madison police spokesman said they don't believe Seiler went somewhere on her own without telling anyone. She had no personal belongings with her.Police said this is atypical behavior for Seiler. She is a 4.0 student, and she hasn't called anyone since her disappearance. Her family is very concerned.Police said Seiler was attacked Feb. 1 while walking near her residence. She was knocked out by an unknown assailant and then moved about a block or so from where she was attacked."(The attacker) left her unconscious and moved to another location outside, and eventually she was found and she was treated for those injuries," said Larry Kamholz of MPD.She was not sexually assaulted and nothing was taken. Police said the woman had no idea who may have wanted to harm her. She was treated at a hospital and released.Seiler's roommate last saw her leaving their apartment about 2:30 a.m. Saturday. Madison police started looking for her around 2 p.m. Saturday. A security camera shows her leaving the apartment alone.Officers and search-and-rescue dogs searched the area Sunday, and the FBI joined the search Monday."We want them to know we're working very hard to bring closure to this situation and to find their daughter," said Shannon Blackamore of MPD. "It's a very sad situation. You have a daughter out there, and no one knows where she is."Volunteers searched the area around campus for any clues. Fliers are taped up at stores, dormitories and apartment buildings.The university is also offering its assistance, e-mailing 46,000 users on its computer system to appeal for help in finding the missing student.Provost Peter Spear said the school has offered its counseling services to her family and fellow students, faculty and staff.The last time the UW campus was sent reeling like this was in 1982, when student Donna Mraz was killed just a block from where Seiler lives. A stranger grabbed Mraz from behind, slit her throat, and has never been caught.Seiler was last seen wearing an oversized Abercrombie-Fitch burgundy hooded sweatshirt with large white numbers on the front, navy blue sweatpants and either white flip-flops or tennis shoes.She is 5 feet 8 inches tall and 120 pounds with long brown hair and blue eyes. Get Your Donation BackIf you donated money to the "Hope for Audrey" fund, you can get it back.Write to the Bank West in Rockford, Minn., requesting a refund. Make sure to include your check number and sign your name so the bank can verify your signature.If you sent cash, you should have received a receipt you can send in. All refunds will be mailed out within a couple weeks, organizers said.
