This poor guy went missing some months ago at Purdue. He was from my hometown of Bloomington, Indiana, and attended my high school where he was two grades below me. When he first went missing, everyone who knew him said it was unlikely that he would run away, so speculation tended towards kidnapping or murder. Police and volunteers searched the whole Purdue campus and beyond for weeks, with absolutely no leads whatsoever. There was an initial intense flurry of search activity which tapered off this month, after which everyone just hoped and prayed that he would turn up alive, or if not, at least turn up at all and bring some closure.
Well, he finally turned up - FIFTY YARDS from where he was last seen alive.
He had accidentally touched a transformer in an electrical power room and was killed instantly. His body remained in that room for TWO MONTHS before anyone found him.
How the fuck was the door to that room not locked?
Why on earth was the room not MARKED AS A HIGH VOLTAGE ROOM? Fucking air conditioners and heating units outside residential homes have prominent warnings, accompanied by pictures of a burst of electricity with a menacing face that used to scare me as a kid knocking a stick figure backwards. And yet this room, which contained devices powerful enough to kill a full-grown young man immediately upon contact, was not marked at all, let alone with a specific warning about the danger?
Purdue University is about to be hit with some major, major lawsuits, which they richly deserve.
Aside from that, if there’s one thing to be learned from this incident, it’s: for God’s sake, people, be careful.
There was no kidnapper or murderer on the Purdue campus, no serial killer or sexual pervert. Wade Steffey was killed by something as mundane as an electrical transformer. It may seem paranoid, but yes, there are things all around us that could potentially kill us. Cars, trains, shop machinery, construction equipment - stuff that we all interact with on a daily basis could be deadly if we’re not careful. So, please, take that extra second and think before you do something.