Family of missing student Max Maisel seeks help

Against darkened skies and frozen patches of Lake Ontario, the family of missing third-year Rochester Institute of Technology student Max Maisel asked for the public's help in finding him.

Maisel's vehicle was located Monday near Charlotte Pier by police. He was last seen Sunday leaving the Perkins Green Apartment Complex on RIT's Henrietta campus.

"We're scared and we're heartbroken. That's why we're asking for help," said Ivan Masiel, Max's father, at a news conference Wednesday at the Charlotte pier. He described his son as quiet with a dry sense of humor who loved photography. The family asked anyone who may have seen him to call 911.

"The water calmed him," said Meg Murray, Max Maisel's mother. "This pier is his favorite place."

Ivan Maisel, a senior writer for ESPN.com, said his family has been coming to the park every summer since 1999.

"We don't know where Max is and that's hard to deal with," Ivan Maisel said. The family is trying to reconstruct his movements from when he left his apartment. They know he didn't take his cellphone or camera equipment, but they said that was not unusual.

"It's really hard not knowing where he is," Murray said.

Rochester police are "trying to develop a strategy to attack the issue of searching the water," Rochester Police Investigator Frank Camp said.

"Obviously, our heart goes out to Max's family," Camp said. "We're working against the elements. We're doing everything we can."

ESPN officials released a statement that said, "Our thoughts are with the Maisel family as they face this heartbreaking and emotional situation. Ivan is a caring and respected member of the ESPN family and we are hopeful that more information comes to light and good news lies ahead."

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