Divers to Begin Search For Missing Professor

Divers will begin searching today for the Graduate School of Education professor missing since January 17 who police say may have committed suicide.

Police have reported no new development in the case of Professor of Education and Social Psychology Lawrence Kohlberg, whose car, wallet and top coat were found January 21 at a Winthrop, Mass. street beside Boston Harbor.

Searches of the area where Kohlberg's car was found have turned up nothing, according to Winthrop police. However, divers from the state police department plan to begin searching the water today at 9 a.m. the bad weather having prevented effective searches until now.

"The divers will be searching the general area and where they believe the tide would have taken him if he were in the water," LaMonica said. We have other avenues to investigate, but know that we covered that area."

Although no suicide note has been found Kohlberg, an expert in moral development has been suffering from a severe parasitic infection, which he picked up while traveling in Central "America more than 15 years ago, said Dean of the Ed School Patricia. A. Graham. Kohlberg's family reportedly fears that a recurrence of the illness, which Graham has termed "long standing and painful," is responsible for the disappearance.

"Based on what [Kohlberg's] family and friends have said and his health condition, he seems to be in a depressed state which could be an indication [of suicide] But we can't be 100 percent sure," Winthrop Police Lt. Angelo LaMonica said. "The case is open until we resolve it, really.

Because of the uncertainty of Kohlberg's whereabouts, the registrar of the Ed School has cancelled the two classes the was scheduled to teach this semester, "Philosophy of Moral Development and Moral Education" and "Contemporary Research and practices in Moral Education."

Graham would not speculate on Kohlberg's disappearance. "All I know is that he's not here and that's a terrible loss for those of us who are here," she said.