Somerset County Sheriff's Department suspects Paige Aiello, a New Jersey college senior, may have jumped from the George Washington (GW) Bridge in New York. Aiello has been reported missing since Tuesday afternoon.
Late Tuesday night, a pedestrian walking across the bridge spotted Aiello's cell phone, purse, and car keys on the south pedestrian ramp of the upper level of the GW Bridge, which stands over the Hudson River. He immediately contacted her parents.
Police and rescue team searched the Hudson River below the bridge for any signs of the body of Aiello throughout Tuesday night, but found nothing.
Aiello, 21, was co-captain of the women's tennis team at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) and was planning to attend Rutgers Law School, coming fall.
On Tuesday, Aiello is alleged to have left her parents' home in her mother's silver Audi sedan between 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. Her mother noticed around late afternoon that the car was taken out without permission, which was unlike Aiello.
Later, at 7:45 p.m., her parents approached the cops about their missing daughter.
Meanwhile, the police have found the missing car Thursday at a parking garage in New Brunswick, N.J., near the town's train station.
Aiello's father, Chris, told abc that his daughter was an intelligent student, who had been lately under immense stress. She would have turned 22, Thursday.
"Not only do we have to be watching our children that are not doing well and getting in trouble, but we have to see and watch the kids that are the overachievers. They have a self-imposed stress. You don't need a parent to be constantly on their back if their stress is internalized," Chris said.
The police are contacting Aiello's friends and teammates in order to gather any additional information that might help to track her down. Her well wishers have also created a Facebook page called, 'Find Paige Aiello' to assist the police.
