SAN BERNARDINO: Authorities widen search for missing woman Share Pin It 1 of 5 More Galleries Hastings Anyanwu, 26, said he lives in the unit directly above the one occupied by Sahray Astina Barber, 22, who was reported missing on Monday. DAVID BAUMAN , PHOTOS: DAVID BAUMAN, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Related article » 
 
 Mounted police expanded their search Wednesday for a missing 22-year-old San Bernardino woman as detectives examined her belongings and Cal State San Bernardino released a composite sketch of a suspect in two attacks there. 
 
 Police are trying to determine if the attacks and disappearance are related. 
 
 “We probably have no less than 10, 15 detectives assigned to this case right now,” said Lt. Richard Lawhead, a spokesman for the San Bernardino Police Department. 
 
 UPDATE: Search of hills called off Thursday as investigators follow up leads 
 
 PREVIOUSLY REPORTED: Police 'not leaving any stone unturned' 
 
 Detective Jerry Hanes of San Bernardino’s Mounted Enforcement Unit said the agency dispatched a pair of two-man teams to search from dawn to dusk the chaparral-and-sage backcountry north of CSUSB, both west and east of Devils Canyon Road. 
 
 Wearing a cowboy hat and dark sunglasses above a handlebar mustache, Hanes rode out with Reserve Officer Eric Morales. 
 
 “We’re covering every road, every trail and every rabbit path,” said Morales, a retired sergeant. 
 
 However, as of Wednesday afternoon, Lawhead said searchers had uncovered no sign of Sahray Astina Barber, the missing art student who was last seen early Monday morning. 
 
 Barber has been living at a 212-unit apartment complex on Northpark Boulevard, across the street from the campus of 19,000 students and 2,000 faculty and staff. 
 
 Barber does not attend CSUSB, university officials said. 
 
 But she is a student at the Art Institute of California-Inland Empire, where she studies graphic design. 
 
 She is due to get an associate degree this spring and an award from a national organization during a ceremony Friday at the Mission Inn in Riverside, her parents, Stephen and Radena Barber, said. 
 
 ‘STRANGE SET OF CIRCUMSTANCES’ 
 
 Concerning her disappearance, Lawhead said no one heard a scream or saw anything that suggests a struggle took place. ||||| Sahray Astina Barber, 22, was last seen 6 a.m. Monday. (Courtesy photo) 
 
 SAN BERNARDINO >> Just a day after a female student reported being attacked at Cal State San Bernardino, police say a woman, who lives directly across the street from campus has gone missing. 
 
 “We just want her back,” a tearful Stephen Barber, the missing woman’s father, said. 
 
 • Video: Parents make plea for daughter’s safe return 
 
 Sahray Astina Barber, 22, was last seen around 6 a.m. Monday as she made her way to work from her apartment located at 1505 West Northpark Blvd., directly across the street from the university, San Bernardino police officials said. 
 
 When she didn’t show up at work at the The Art Institute where she is also a student, the police were called, said Lt. Rich Lawhead. 
 
 “We are concerned due to the recent events at Cal State,” Lawhead said. 
 
 Cal State president, Tomás D. Morales, sent an email to students and faculty Tuesday morning responding to Barber’s disappearance. 
 
 “I regret the need to share another incident involving a law enforcement matter, but your safety and well-being preempts any other issue these days,” the email reads. “Late Monday afternoon, San Bernardino Police responded to a call at the nearby Sunrise Apartments regarding a missing female named Sahray Astina Barber. Her roommates had discovered several of her belongings scattered on the lawn outside their apartment. They contacted her work and found that she had not reported that day.” 
 
 Morales went on to say Barber at no time worked at or attended Cal State San Bernardino, but a number of students live in the same apartments. 
 
 The university community is still reeling after a series of violent incidents occurred on campus recently, including two attacks on women in a one-week period. 
 
 In response to those recent attacks on campus, “University police staffing has been more than doubled, 24 hours a day,” according to Morales, “including bringing in additional officers from other CSU campuses to supplement our force.” 
 
 Morales released a video Monday afternoon, addressing the violent incidents on campus. 
 
 • Video: Police search bushes where woman went missing 
 
 Police have not said whether the missing woman’s case is connected to the events on campus, but they are actively investigating the incidents. However, some students said they feel the incidents are too close in proximity and time to not be related. 
 
 “It really does seem like they are connected in some way,” said freshman, Mayela Garcia, 18. “It’s very, very scary. Especially if you think that yesterday there were a whole bunch of police, helicopters and even news media, and this girl went missing in the middle of all that.” 
 
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 Residents of the Sunrise Apartment complex, where Barber lived, were also on edge Tuesday. 
 
 “Nothing like this, this big has happened here before,” said Shawn Hempstead who has lived in the complex for nine years. “It really hits close to home.” 
 
 Hempstead and her neighbor, Any Gutierrez, were chatting about the incident as police took down the crime tape that surrounded a portion of the complex’s parking area. 
 
 “I think everyone was already kind of scared because of the attacks at the school and now this just makes me really concerned,” Gutierrez said. 
 
 The women said police went door to door Monday afternoon and asked residents if they had seen or heard anything earlier that morning. 
 
 “Someone did say they heard some yelling,” said Gutierrez. “With all the joggers that go by, I think someone had to have seen something.” 
 
 Barber is a graphic arts major who was getting ready to accept an award for her work this weekend. 
 
 On Sunday afternoon, a woman was leaving the John M. Pfau Library at Cal State San Bernardino around 3 p.m. when a man grabbed her from behind, according to an email sent to students and staff. The attacker put his hand over her mouth and “said that he planned to take her to his car,” the email said. 
 
 The woman fought the man off, and she then called for help. 
 
 The school police crime log shows a woman was also attacked by a man inside Pfau Library last Wednesday evening. The woman reported the attack took place in the library’s north stairwell around 7:30 p.m., according to a school police report. She also escaped. 
 
 On Monday, campus housing passed out whistles to students. Garcia said she went right over to get one. 
 
 “Let me be clear — the safety of our campus community is our highest priority, and I have instructed our leadership team accordingly,” Morales said in the video. 
 
 Barber is described as a white female, about 5 feet 8 inches tall, 125 pounds, with long red/brown straight hair and green eyes. 
 
 Anyone who has seen Barber or has information about her whereabouts is asked to call San Bernardino police Detective Dan Han at 909-384-5623 or the San Bernardino Police Investigations Bureau at 909-384-5615. Refer to case number 2015-26028. 
 
 Staff writer Doug Saunders contributed to this report. ||||| An art student went missing near the Cal State San Bernardino campus Monday, police said. The school has been dealing with a wave of violent crime. Beverly White reports for the NBC4 News at 11 p.m. on Tuesday, March 10, 2015. (Published Wednesday, Mar 11, 2015) 
 
 An art student living in a Southern California college community that has been grappling with a wave of violent crime has disappeared, police said Tuesday. 
 
 Sahray Astina Barber may have gone missing early Monday morning after leaving her apartment complex in the 1500 block of Northpark Boulevard in San Bernardino, officials with the San Bernardino Police Department said. 
 
 Her parents say they are desperate to see their 22-year-old daughter again. 
 
 "It’s just not like her to go off on her own like this," said Barber's father, Stephen Barber. "Sahray, we love you. We can’t wait to have you back in our arms." 
 
 Woman Believed to Have Vanished Near CSUSB 
 
 Authorities continue to search for a young woman who may have vanished from her home near CSU San Bernardino. Tony Shin reports for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, March 10, 2015. (Published Tuesday, Mar 10, 2015) 
 
 About 6 a.m., Barber, an Art Institute of California – Inland Empire graphic design student, was possibly heading to a nearby bus stop on her way to school, police said. Some of her personal belongings, including a laptop and her cellphone, were found in vegetation about 30 yards away from the bus stop. 
 
 Searchers on motorcycle and horseback were searching for clues in the hills just north of Barber’s home, where she lives with two roommates, who reported her missing. 
 
 Barber’s disappearance comes on the heels of a series of violent crimes at California State University, San Bernardino, which is across the street from her apartment. 
 
 On Sunday, a female student fought of an attacker who tried to kidnap her on campus. 
 
 CSUSB Students on High Alert After Attempted Kidnap 
 
 Students at Cal State San Bernadino are on high alert after a series of violent crimes, including an attempted kidnapping over the weekend, in broad daylight. Tony Shin reports for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on Monday, March 9, 2015. (Published Monday, Mar 9, 2015) 
 
 An attempted rape, carjacking and a strong-arm robbery also took place in the last two weeks, a school spokesman said. 
 
 Police said there's no known connection between the crimes and Barber's disappearance. 
 
 "We are concerned due to recent events in the area, however we have no concrete evidence that for sure tells us there’s any kind of foul play right now," said San Bernardino Police Lt. Richard Lawhead. 
 
 Barber’s parents said their daughter has some martial arts training. 
 
 String of Violent Crimes Reported at CSU SB Campus 
 
 Four violent crimes were reported in two weeks, including an attempted kidnapping and attempted rape, at an Inland Empire state university. Annette Arreola reports from San Bernardino for NBC4's News at Noon on Monday, March 9, 2015. (Published Monday, Mar 9, 2015) 
 
 “She would have been able to handle herself, unless she was overwhelmed,” Barber’s father said. 
 
 Police have questioned Barber’s ex-boyfriend and her roommates about her disappearance. 
 
 Investigators said they don’t have any solid leads. 
 
 “That laptop hopefully will have some evidence on it. It has been taken to the sheriff’s high-tech crime unit for analysis,” Lawhead said. 
 
 Southern California Images in the News 
 
 Barber was described as White, about 5-foot-8-inches tall, weighing 125 pounds. She has long red-brown straight hair and green eyes. 
 
 Anyone with information was asked to call San Bernardino police at 909-384-5623.
– Police on horseback and dirt bikes are searching remote areas for a woman whose disappearance followed a series of violent attacks at Cal State San Bernardino. Sahray Astina Barber, a 22-year-old who studies and works at the Art Institute of California-Inland Empire, lives across the street from the university and was last seen around 6am Monday. The university emailed students about her disappearance, saying that her roommates found her belongings, including her phone and laptop, scattered on the lawn outside her apartment building and called police after discovering that she hadn't turned up to work that day, the San Bernardino Sun reports. "We're covering every road, every trail, and every rabbit path," one of the searchers scouring the hills tells the Press-Enterprise. Police say they haven't found firm evidence of foul play or established a connection between the disappearance and the wave of attacks at Cal State in the last few weeks, which include a carjacking, an attempted rape, and—the day before Barber vanished—an incident in which a female student fought off a man who tried to kidnap her, NBC reports. Police have released a composite sketch of a suspect in two of the Cal State attacks, who is described as a Hispanic male around 20 years old, according to the Press-Enterprise. The university says it has more than doubled its police presence, and Barber's father says, "We just want her back," the Sun reports. (An attempted kidnapping in Washington state was foiled by the snatched toddler's 8-year-old sister.)