Jiwon Lee, a 29-year-old Columbia University dental student has gone missing since April 1, hust weeks away from graduating.
The former local comedian was last seen by her roommate at around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, in their apartment on West 98th Street. Lee spoke with her brother, a student at the Columbia University Medical Center, over telephone the night she vanished. Her friend Christiana Simon said that she also spoke to another caller, whose number has since been disconnected. Lee's phone has been switched off since Wednesday morning,Gothamist reports.
Police officials were able to last track her cell phone to a tower on 179th Street near the George Washington Bridge in Washington Heights.
"The bridge is very concerning," said the student's 25-year-old brother Matt Lee. "But 3 days of searching the harbor (with) helicopters, planes, have shown nothing."
Speaking about the 30-minute call her sister had with the unidentified individual, Matt said that it was disturbing to the family. "We think that's very suspicious."
Lee was a familiar figure in the New York City comedy scene performing stand-up comedy before pursuing her career in dentistry. The fourth-year student recently served as president of the American Student Dental Student Association and has been student representative on the Joint Commission of National Dental Examinations for the last three years, AMNY reports.
Before attending Columbia College of Dental Medicine, Lee served as a teaching fellow in New York City middle schools as part of AmeriCorps. She taught math to students in the city.
A Facebook page has also been created to assist police in the search. Lee is described as 5 feet 2 inches tall and 120 pounds with black hair and dark eyes, Metro reports. Her family planned a surprise birthday celebration for Lee, who turns 30 April 21.
"Please save my precious daughter," said Soduk Lee, father of the missing comedian, pix11 reports.
Police officials have not yet ruled out any possibility that might have caused her disappearance including suicide or murder.
Anyone with information about Lee can call the department's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS, or submit tips online on the Crime stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential.
