Saint Louis' bus goes missing; driver arrested on DWI charge

After Saint Louis suffered a 70-55 loss at St. Bonaventure on Wednesday night, the Billikens prepared to make the trip home.

Just one problem.

Their bus and its driver were missing.

The Billikens soon learned that the driver, 56-year-old Linda Edmister, had taken the bus 40 miles away to Randolph, New York, where she was arrested on a charge of driving while intoxicated, according to New York State Police Trooper James O'Callaghan.

Edmister, of Gasport, New York, registered a 0.22 blood alcohol content, which is more than five times above the legal limit of 0.04 for New York drivers with commercial licenses. O'Callaghan said law enforcement officers are grateful because they know the outcome could have been much different, considering Edmister's level of intoxication.

"With a vehicle that large and her intoxication level, we're actually lucky nothing happened," O'Callaghan told ESPN.

Edmister did not resist arrest before she was transported to a jail in Cattaraugus County, New York. She does not have any prior arrests, per O'Callaghan.

"At first, you didn't know whether the bus was stolen or what the total story was," he said.

Saint Louis had concerns about the equipment and gear that had been left on the bus. But the players and staff retrieved their items after police arrested Edmister and brought the bus back to St. Bonaventure.

O'Callaghan said state troopers found Edmister and the missing bus with the help of GPS-equipped items that had been left on board.

After grabbing their items from the original bus, the Billikens transferred to a new bus with a new driver and traveled to a local airport. Team spokesman Brian Kunderman said the Billikens reached the airport just after midnight.

"Is it unusual? Yes," O'Callaghan said. "Typically the bus would have been stolen but not the driver arrested for being intoxicated."