Troopers in two states, local first responders and now FBI and Border Patrol agents are looking for a missing Middlebury College student.
Lia Smith, 21, was last seen in a building on the college’s campus on Oct. 17 around 9 p.m., according to town police in Middlebury. She is 5 feet, 11 inches tall, weighs about 160 pounds and has brown hair and blue eyes.
Smith, a senior from California, was reported missing the afternoon of Oct. 19. Local police have used drones to search from overhead and conducted focused searches on foot, authorities said, and on Wednesday they swept through the woods around the college campus in a larger search with local firefighters and U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents.
Lia Smith, 21, of California, a Middlebury College senior who was reported missing Oct. 19, 2025.
The same day, Vermont State Police said its search-and-rescue team would join the effort with a full-scale search on Thursday, and its victim services unit was working with Smith’s family. The Middlebury Police Department said it’s getting help from state police in New York and the FBI. Investigators have asked college staff to keep checking campus buildings.
Anyone with a tip about Smith’s whereabouts can call local police at 802-388-3191, state troopers at 802-388-4919 or share information anonymously online.
According to the Middlebury Campus, the student newspaper at the college, Smith is studying computer science and statistics and used to compete for the school as a swimmer and diver. Her father filed the initial missing persons report after not hearing from her and talking to her friends, the paper reported.
“If there’s any concern, or if Lia thought she was in trouble for anything, she’s not, nobody’s in trouble for this,” Middlebury Sgt. Nathan Hayes told the paper Monday. “We just truly want to find out where she is and make sure she’s safe.”
Students were working with campus safety officers to rally volunteers for a search party, the paper reported. College officials have been posting regular updates online.
Justin Trombly is the editor of the Burlington Free Press. Write to him at jtrombly@burlingtonfreepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: VT State Police join search for missing Middlebury College student
