Police find body of Cornell University student who vanished from campus

ByMORGAN WINSOR ABCNews logo
Saturday, May 20, 2017

Police say they have found the body of a 20-year-old Cornell University student who had been missing for more than two days.

Authorities recovered a body from the area of Fall Creek, just upstream from Ithaca Falls, New York, on Friday morning and later confirmed the deceased's identity as 20-year-old Aalaap Narasipura, according to the Cornell University Police Department.

The circumstances of Narasipura's death remain under investigation, but police said they don't suspect any foul play.

In a statement issued upon word that police had found Narasipura's body, Ryan Lombardi, vice president for student and campus life at Cornell, said the "ambitious" senior electrical engineering student was set to graduate early this December. Apart from his studies, Narasipura was also "active on the school's Ultimate Frisbee team, enjoyed taking photos and planned to continue at Cornell to pursue a Master of Engineering degree," according to Lombardi.

"As we all struggle to process Aalaap's death, I encourage you to reach out to others for support," Lombardi told Cornell students in the statement Friday. "On behalf of the Cornell University community, I extend our deepest condolences to Aalaap's family and friends as they grieve this tragedy. They are in our thoughts as we all come to grips with the enormity of this loss."

In an earlier statement, Lombardi said he was in "regular contact" with Narasipura's family.

Narasipura was last seen in Sage Hall on Cornell's campus Wednesday morning between 2 and 3 a.m. ET, according to the Cornell University Police Department.

State and local authorities from multiple agencies searched Narasipura's residence, academic spaces and regular routes of travel as well as adjacent natural areas and gorges around the Ivy League university. They did not find any evidence of his whereabouts until coming across his body in Fall Creek on Friday morning, police said.

Earlier in the week, police had released a photo and description of Narasipura in hopes that members of the public could provide any leads.

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