Police Say Missing U of I Student May Have Run Away

Chicago police do not believe foul play was involved with the disappearance of a University of Illinois student Saturday who didn't arrive at a North Carolina airport after checking in for his flight at O'Hare International Airport.

Hye Min "Joseph" Choi, 19, was last seen on surveillance video at the airport passing through a security checkpoint at 3:10 p.m., according to his mother, and last spoke with his father from the airport at 4:50 p.m.

"There doesn't appear to be any criminality involved," Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said Tuesday. "The young man was apparently having some problems in school. We have some leads on where he may be. It appears he may or may not have wanted to go home."

Choi's mother says she saw her son on surveillance video Tuesday buying food from an O'Hare McDonald's at about the same time his flight was scheduled to take off.

Choi disappeared the day before his birthday. His family says he's an engineering major on a full scholarship and that his grades were good during his first year at U of I.

Anyone with information on Choi's whereabouts is asked to call the Chicago Police Department at 312-744-8266.

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