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Reno police express frustration in missing woman case

RENO -- Four days after a 19-year-old college student mysteriously vanished, police investigating her possible abduction said Wednesday night that they were becoming increasingly frustrated by the lack of leads in the case.

Police questioned a man who gave a ride home to Brianna Denison's friend the night Denison disappeared from the home near the campus of the University of Nevada, Reno, but investigators said he is not a suspect.

"From our perspective, we don't have any credible leads in which to follow up at this point," UNR Police Chief Adam Garcia said Wednesday night.

"Basically, Brianna has disappeared. She has fallen off the face of the Earth," he told a Reno radio station.

Denison was last seen at 4 a.m. Sunday. Police said she was sleeping on a couch near an unlocked glass door after a night of partying.

When her friends awoke later that morning, she was gone, but her clothes, purse and cell phone were left behind.

Police with search dogs have canvassed the neighborhood a half-mile north of the downtown casino district since Monday but have found no sign of the young woman, no footprints and no tire tracks that would aid in the investigation.

"Things like this just do not occur a lot and are especially rare in Reno," said Ron Holladay, a Reno police commander. "For something like this to happen and have absolutely no clues, no evidence, no witnesses is a very frustrating thing for us. All the indicators are that Brianna has been abducted.

"It is our sincere hope that she'll come walking in the door any minute, but the longer it goes, the less the chances are of that occurring."

Two of her friends, Jessica Deal and K.T. Hunter, said they started making breakfast Sunday morning when they realized Denison's personal items were still there.

"We started piecing together later that hour that everything was still there," Deal said. "There is no way she left voluntarily."

Detectives awaited test results on whether a silver dollar-sized stain on the pillow Denison was using is blood.

"They are trying to piece this together and hopefully bring Brianna home safely," Reno police spokesman Steve Frady said.

"Brianna has been described as a very responsible young adult, just basically a good kid who has maintained contact with her family. She has an extremely good relationship with her family, so this is really quite out of the ordinary for her."

Denison, who grew up in Reno, is a student at Santa Barbara City College in Santa Barbara, Calif. Friends and family say she was at home over the winter break and had planned to return to school this week.

In the hours before her disappearance, Denison was party-hopping at venues associated with a weekend snowboarding event, police have said.

Her aunt, Lauren Denison of Reno, said Brianna had made plans to spend the night with her friends after attending a concert.

"The rest we don't really know," she said. "I want to let people know how responsible she is and what an incredible person she is.

"She wasn't like a young, partying little troublemaker."

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