Northwestern University professor reported missing after leaving home to go on walk: Police

(EVANSTON, Ill.) — Officials in Illinois are searching for a Northwestern University professor who was reported missing after leaving home to go on a walk, according to the Evanston Police Department.

Nina Kraus, a 72-year-old professor at the university’s school of communication, was last seen on Monday after she left her Evanston home to go on a walk at approximately 9 a.m. local time, officials said. Her family reported her missing the same day, officials said.

“The University is hopeful that with the community’s help, we can find Professor Kraus and assure her safety,” Northwestern said in a press release on Monday.

She was last seen wearing long pants and a windbreaker, and was believed to be carrying a dark backpack, officials said.

Kraus is 5 feet, 4 inches tall, weighs approximately 140 pounds and has long silver hair, police said.

On Tuesday, police said they would be flying drones along the waterfront of Lake Michigan as part of the investigation.

According to her faculty bio, Kraus’ is a “scientist, inventor and amateur musician who studies the biology of auditory learning.”

“My research on sound and the brain aims to understand how our life in sound, for better or worse, alters the processing of sound in the brain, makes us us, and affects the world we live in,” Kraus wrote in her bio.

Officials said anyone with information on Kraus’ whereabouts should contact police at 847-866-5000.