Search underway for Virginia Tech student missing since last week

Feb. 19 (UPI) -- A search is underway for a 20-year-old Virginia Tech student who never showed up at his parents' home as expected last week, school officials said Monday.

Virginia Tech said the Montgomery County, Va., Sheriff's Department is seeking information on the whereabouts of Johnny Roop, who was last seen Friday at his apartment complex in Merrimac, Va., less than 2 miles from the school campus in Blacksburg, Va.

Officials said Roop was traveling to his parents' home in Abingdon, Va., where he was intending to take an online exam at 5 p.m. He never arrived, they said.

His cellphone signal was last detected at 4:26 p.m. on Friday, with his position pinpointed near the New River Valley Mall along U.S. Hwy. 460 just south of Merrimac.

The sheriff's office said the student was driving a black 2018 Toyota Camry with Virginia license plate number TXW6643. The car has a Virginia Tech flag sticker on the back window.

One of the missing student's childhood friends said he is "worried sick" over the situation.

"John is not the kind of guy that just goes missing," Isaac Childress told WSLS-TV in Roanoke, Va. "You have some buddies you don't hear from in a couple days and it's just the norm, they do their own thing. But Johnny, he is a family and friend-oriented man."

Anyone with any information on Roop's whereabouts are urged to contact the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office at 540-382-4343.