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Volunteers continue search for missing 22-year-old South Side man

PITTSBURGH — Volunteers meet once again Friday to search for a missing Allegheny General Hospital nurse.

The search for Paul Kochu resumed at 10 a.m. in Pittsburgh’s South Side.

The 22-year-old disappeared from his South Side apartment on Dec. 16. Kochu was last seen walking around Wharton Street.

Police, dive teams, family members and friends have been searching for Kochu, but have turned up very little clues.

“If it was my kids, I'd want someone to be out there looking for them,” said Beth Trautman, who organized the latest search and works with Kochu at Allegheny General Hospital. “It's very important. We just want to get him back, back to his family. His parents have to be heartbroken. We just want him back."

Investigators released surveillance video that showed Kochu walking near the South Side Giant Eagle. But after Kochu goes out of camera view, the trail has gone cold.

After seeing the new video, Kochu’s father said he his son could have been trying to cross the 10th Street Bridge to get to his cousin, who goes to Duquesne University, or to UPMC Mercy.

Kochu’s father said his son cut his hand the night he went missing and also thinks his son had a head injury based on the staggering seen in the surveillance video.

Shannon Coulter, one of Kochu’s close friends, said she was relieved to see the surveillance footage.

“We had an image of him. We knew it was him. It was nice to see him there and it was nice to see he was OK,” said Coulter.

However, she isn’t satisfied with just the one video. She and other searchers went around to South Side businesses Friday looking for more video.

“Someone knows something. We just have to find them,” said Coulter.

Coulter said she has been searching every day for Kochu with his roommates.

“They’re a wreck,” she said. “It's an empty room in their house and they just want him back more than anything, just like the rest of us.”

A $20,000 reward is being offered for information leading to Kochu’s return.

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