A University of Rochester economics professor may be in danger after failing to show up for his scheduled class, according to police investigating his whereabouts.
Heikki Rantakari, 44, is an associate professor at the university’s Simon Business School, according to his website, and a visiting associate professor of applied economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management, where he earned his doctorate in economics.
Rochester Police Capt. Gregory Bello told Fox News Digital that Rantakari landed at Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport from his home in the Boston area around 7 p.m. on Friday and was seen around 9 p.m. at their Airbnb on Exchange Street between Flint Street and Mount Pleasant. Park.
“The last person who saw it on Airbnb had stayed there before. [and] he recognized [Rantakari’s Finnish] accent and confirmed that it was there… This is not the first time [Rantakari has stayed at that Airbnb]“Bello told Fox News on Wednesday.
Rantakari speaks with a Finnish accent, weighs approximately 180 pounds, is 5 feet 11 inches tall with an average build and has blonde hair and blue eyes, according to a statement from his family shared with News 8 WROC.
Heikki Rantakari did not show up for the morning class he teaches on Saturday, which police say is “very out of character” for him. Rochester Police Department
“Heikki Rantakari is a hard-working teacher and personally a pleasant and calm man,” the family wrote. “If anyone may have seen or spoken to him, any information from the public about his whereabouts is greatly needed to help find him as soon as possible…many are praying for his safe return.”
Bello told Fox News Digital that Rantakari was first reported missing to the nearby Brighton Police Department on Saturday before Rochester police began investigating.
Local outlet 13Wham snapped a photo of a Rochester police cruiser outside the Airbnb on Exchange Street on Monday.
Heikki Rantakari was last seen at this Airbnb property on Exchange Street in Rochester, according to a statement from his family. google maps
While some of the professor’s effects were found, there were no traces of Rantakari, Bello said.
Rantakari had likely taken an Uber from the airport to his accommodation, Bello said, and planned to take the nearby pedestrian bridge to his class a few minutes away.
But the captain did not specify what specifically led police to believe the professor was in danger.
Heikki Rantakari was scheduled to teach an Executive MBA class at the University of Rochester’s Simon Business School, which is located a short distance from where Airbnb is located. google maps
“Beyond the obvious circumstances of just poof, this guy is missing, there has been other information that indicates this guy may also be in danger,” Bello said. “The strange thing is that this guy disappeared; what I understand is that he is very out of place.”
Bello did not want to share the condition of the professor’s Airbnb.
“He has family in Boston and obviously they’re worried about him too, and that’s what we’re trying to figure out here and figure out what happened,” Bello told 13Wham.
“We thank all local law enforcement agencies and the University of Rochester Department of Public Safety for supporting this investigation,” University of Rochester officials wrote in a statement. “We are asking for the public’s support in reporting anything related to Professor Rantakari’s whereabouts by calling 911. The University is hopeful that he will be found safe very soon.”
Anyone with relevant information is asked to call 911 or the Rochester Police Department’s Major Crimes unit at (585) 428-7157.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn