Police recover bike; search for missing BYU coed focuses on river

PROVO — Authorities searching Thursday for a Brigham Young University student combed a section of the Provo River after two people surrendered a bicycle that likely belonged to the missing woman.

It was the most significant development in the disappearance of Camille Cleverley, 22, who has not been seen since Aug. 30.

A dam upstream at Deer Creek Reservoir was closed to lower the river and check for any sign of the BYU senior, but officers found no other evidence, Provo police Lt. John Guyerman said.

"We don't know if she's here. All we have to go on is a bicycle," he said.

The bike was turned in by two people who snatched it Saturday after finding it locked to a rack at Bridal Veil Falls, Guyerman said. They came forward after hearing about the missing woman.

Cleverley was last seen riding a week ago, about 40 miles south of Salt Lake City. Police were working to confirm that the Schwinn bike was hers.

Cars and pedestrians were turned away from the falls, a popular recreation spot, while officers delivered all-terrain vehicles, canoes and boats to the river. As night fell, the search was suspended around 8 p.m.

Authorities now believe Cleverley may have parked her bike and possibly hiked one of the many trails leading into the Wasatch Mountains, Guyerman said.

Earlier in the day, Provo police held their first news conference, making a public plea for information about Cleverley and the bike, her only mode of transportation.

"We have a daughter, a sister, a friend that is missing," Police Chief Craig Geslison said, choking up. "We have a community that cares. We want to find her."

Hundreds of volunteers, including BYU students and faculty, have been combing Provo Canyon and other rugged areas where Cleverley liked to ride. The new school year began Tuesday.

"You're really in the thick of it up there," Jennene Allen of Lindon told the Daily Herald of Provo while searching with her husband.

Officers inspected a car wash Wednesday night but said it did not produce clues about her whereabouts.

If Cleverley was abducted, brother David Cleverley publicly urged the perpetrator to release her — "if he has sensitivity and humanity."

Before the new school year, the Boise, Idaho, native spent the summer living with the family of her boyfriend, David Sperry, father Dick Sperry said.