NY Authorities Search for Missing Pa. College Student

(Nov. 23) -- Authorities in upstate New York are searching for a missing Pennsylvania college student who disappeared while on holiday break.

Jenni-Lyn Watson, a 20-year-old junior dance major from Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pa., had gone home early for the Thanksgiving holiday. She was last seen on Friday at her family's home in Liverpool, N.Y., near Syracuse. Watson left the home in the afternoon and has not been seen since, the Onondaga County Sheriff's Office said.

"She was home on Friday morning and was seen by a family member, but by 12 [noon] she was gone," Devin Ruic, a friend and classmate of Watson's, told AOL News. "She left her keys at the house, but her cell phone is missing."

Family members reported Watson missing when she failed to contact them by Friday night. They told police it was "uncharacteristic" of Watson to leave without notifying someone, the Erie-Times News reported.

The Onondaga County Sheriff's Department did not return calls for comment from AOL News today. A man who answered the phone at the Watson family's residence declined to comment this afternoon.

Ruic said Watson's cell phone, a Verizon LG enV3, has been turned on "intermittently" since her disappearance. According to WSYR-TV, authorities are basing their search areas on cell phone records.

A large-scale search is being conducted in a wooded area off of Waterhouse Road. Investigators previously searched an area near the Woodard Industrial Park, WSYR-TV reported.

The U.S. Marshals Service, along with members of the Cayuga and Oswego County Search and Rescue teams, are assisting in the search.

According to Ruic, Watson had been having problems with a man in the months leading up to her disappearance. "She told her friends he was treating her 'stalker-ish,' " Ruic said.

Police say they have no suspects or people of interest in the case but have confirmed people are being interviewed, CNYCentral.com reported.

Meanwhile, Ruic has created a Facebook campaign to locate Watson. He is encouraging members to share information and pass out downloadable fliers. As of today, more than 12,000 have joined the group.

"I just hope that if enough people hear about her we'll be able to find her," Ruic said.

While some members of the Facebook group are concerned members of the public, others, like Gloria Rhodes, are personal friends of Watson.

"Jenni-Lyn is amazing," Rhodes told AOL News. "She is sweet, friendly, outgoing, a phenomenal dancer, very social, a huge smile, funny. She has everything going for her. She's beautiful, she's smart [and] she's strong."