News of Brooke Wilberger's disappearance has many people worried, especially young women. For some, it's jarring enough to shake them from complacency.

Marisa Birky and Michelle Raethke, freshmen pre-nursing students at Oregon State University, are edgy because of what happened. As they sat together on the lawn of the Memorial Union Quad Wednesday afternoon between classes, they talked about their fears. They said another friend was almost abducted by two men on campus Friday night.

Raethke said their friend, whom they didn't name, was walking on 26th Street when a strange man came up behind her, while at the same time a car passed by her. The man tried to push her into the car, their friend told them.

"She ended up biting him and running off. He didn't chase her. She hid in the bushes and had a friend come and get her," Raethke said. She later filed a report with the police.

Cpt. Bob Deutsch of the Corvallis Police Department said they are investigating the report of the attempted abduction, along with dozens of other leads.

"We're not saying it did or didn't happen," Deutsch said.

Nor did he indicate whether the incidents may be related.

Birky and Raethke heard about the incident involving their friend Monday, and Tuesday they learned that Wilberger has disappeared from a nearby Corvallis apartment complex.

"We're pretty apprehensive," Raethke said. "It could have been her."

Raethke and Birky are dorm mates at Bloss Hall, just down the street from where Wilberger disappeared.

"We're very much scared about that," Birky said.

"We didn't sleep well last night," Raethke said.

The two now make sure they walk with each other at all times, and when circumstances force them to walk alone, they're hyper-alert.

"I'm more paranoid than normal," Birky said. "I used to feel so safe and now I feel unsafe. When I'm walking down a street or in a parking lot, all of a sudden I'm watching around. Any little noise will set you off."

Other female friends on campus are worried as well, they said, one now carries an air horn in her pocket. Everyone seems concerned.

"I think it's in the air," Birky said. "They're taking it into consideration."

Connie Folse lives three blocks from where Wilberger was last seen. It was a flyer on campus with Wilberger's smiling face that first attracted her attention.

"I was shocked," Folse said. "Honestly, I feel so safe in Corvallis. I recognize that I feel that way, but am I really that safe?"

Folse, an OSU graduate student in public health, said kidnappings and disappearances aren't things she equates with Corvallis. As the special events coordinator of the Women's Center, she's aware of the dangers young women face every day. But the possibility of being abducted in broad daylight isn't something most women worry about.

"It put things in perspective," she said. "I feel like I'm (more) aware of my surroundings. When I'm walking around, it's going to be in the back of my head."

Folse said her awareness was going to "step up a notch," but she said it wouldn't change her habits. She already walks with other people at night, and tries not to put herself in vulnerable positions.

The disappearance has certainly sparked conversations on campus.

"Mostly people are just surprised," Folse said. "I'm not sure how we should respond to it. If we stop going outside, that's not fair. We all do feel so safe and that's nice, but we should be aware we take it for granted."

Debi Stabler, a graduate student in college student services administration, was walking to her car on campus Monday afternoon when someone handed her a flyer with Wilberger's photo on it, and asked her if she'd seen anyone resembling the Brigham Young University student. The incident surprised Stabler, and it made her reassess the small-town feel of Corvallis, but not her habits.

"There's no way to be on guard all of the time," Stabler said. "It seems so out-of-the-blue. It has changed my assumptions about Corvallis. It made me think it can happen anywhere."

Alisha Bickett, a senior in liberal studies, was studying for her cultural competence class in front of the Valley Library Wednesday afternoon, but Wilberger's disappearance was on her mind.

Bickett lives in Lebanon, but said the incident still worries her.

"It's scary to know someone could be doing yard work, minding your own business," and be abducted, she said.

Bickett hasn't changed her habits, because she said it comes natural to be alert.

"I think anywhere, being a female at night, you're aware of your circumstances," she said.

Theresa Hogue is the higher education reporter for the Gazette-Times. She can be reached at theresa.hogue@lee.net or 758-9526.