NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (CWNews.com) - Two students at a noted Catholic college in northeastern Ohio who went missing on Memorial Day may have been killed by three burglars, according to investigators.

      Brian Muha, 18, a Franciscan University of Steubenville sophomore from Columbus, Ohio, and Aaron Land, 20, a junior from Philadelphia, were found to be missing on Memorial Day after someone broke into their off-campus apartment. A roommate of the two men said he heard crashing noises in the house and leaped out his bedroom window. He then came in an outside door, saw a strange man in the living room, and ran to a neighbor's house to call police.

      Police said they found blood at the scene and two bullet shells. Two teenage boys, a 19-year-old and a 16-year-old, were later apprehended driving a Chevy Blazer belonging to Muha. A third 18-year-old suspect was later apprehended.

      Police said they found blood inside and on the outside of the Blazer when they stopped it in nearby Burgettstown, Pennsylvania. "The indication was that the car was pulled alongside a road and the alleged victims were taken up an embankment and shot two to four times in a wooded area," said Jefferson County, Ohio, Prosecutor Daniel Stern. So far charges of aggravated burglary, kidnapping, and aggravated robbery are expected to be brought, although Stern said the case is still open and other charges could be brought.

      More than 400 students, faculty, university employees, and area residents have attended prayer vigils at the school since the two men disappeared. A spokesman said the whole university community had turned out in support of the victims and their families. "The natural inclination is to want to do something, anything. But all we can do now is pray and wait," she said. She added that university chancellor Father Michael Scanlan had met with the families and offered them whatever help he could offer.

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