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Police End Water Search For Missing Fairfield Resident Max Maisel

FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- Police in upstate New York have called off the water search for Max Maisel, a 21-year-old college student from Fairfield who went missing more than three weeks ago.

Max Maisel

Max Maisel

Photo Credit: File

Maisel was last seen Feb. 22  leaving his apartment near his college campus at the University of Rochester, where he was a third-year photography student. His family is planning a memorial service for next week in Bridgeport. 

Maisel, a graduate of Fairfield Warde High School, is the son of Ivan Maisel, a senior writer for ESPN.com, and Meg Murray. He has two sisters.

Officials have "exhausted all of our leads pertaining to the water search," Investigator Jacqueline Shuman of the Rochester Police Department told the Democrat & Chronicle website.

Max Maisel's car was found the next day near the Charlotte Pier at Lake Ontario, an area where his family has vacationed. A person was reportedly seen walking on the pier that night. 

In a statement, the Maisel family thanked Rochester police and other officials for their tireless work in searching for Max.

"More than three weeks in, the searchers share our frustration. The evidence suggests that Max went into the water off the Charlotte pier. Max is not where the evidence suggests he should be," the statement said in part.

Police said the search for Maisel will continue.

"We want to express our eternal gratitude to the men and women of the law enforcement agencies who contributed untold hours and resources to the search for our son Max Maisel," the family statement said. "Since the night of Feb. 22, the Rochester Police Department, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs, and the Border Patrol have searched on land, in the lake and the river, and through the air.

"They searched when treacherous weather said they shouldn’t. They searched when common sense said they shouldn’t. They combed some sections of the waterfront more than a dozen times. We appreciate their collective effort and the resources that the people of Rochester and Monroe County have devoted to finding Max."

The family expressed its gratitude to the searchers and to all of their sons friends.

"We appreciate the compassion and professionalism of the men and women with whom we have dealt, from the detectives to the scuba team to Police Chief Mike Ciminelli. The sheriff’s office personnel showed the same kind of sensitivity. The RIT community has overcome its own shock and disbelief to rush to our aid. Administrators, security personnel and Max’s professors have been generous with their time and with the university’s resources. We thank all of you," the statement said.

"As we, all of us, wait for some sign of Max, the caring and concern we have felt in Rochester has made us appreciate this community in a way that we couldn’t have imagined. In this, the darkest hour of our lives, we have seen so much good in people. We will never forget your kindness."

The family will hold a memorial service for Max Maisel on Friday, March 27, at Congregation Bnai Israel in Bridgeport.

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