The body of missing Princeton University student Misrach Ewunetie was found Thursday on the New Jersey school’s campus after a multiday search, officials said.
“Ms. Ewunetie’s body was found outside on the Facilities grounds behind the tennis courts at approximately 1 p.m. on Thursday by a Facilities employee,” the Mercy County prosecutor’s office stated.
“An autopsy by the Middlesex County medical examiner’s office will determine Ms. Ewunetie’s cause and manner of death. However there were no obvious signs of injury and her death does not appear suspicious or criminal in nature.”
Ewunetie, 20, was last seen Oct. 14 around 3 a.m., officials said. She returned home after a volunteering at a Princeton Terrace Club event on Oct. 13, according to her family.
A suite mate claimed to see Ewunetie brushing her teeth at about 3 a.m. Friday morning, but her roommate said she wasn’t home an hour and a half later, according to ABC News.
Her phone’s location was traced to an off-campus residence, which puzzled her brother.
“Princeton’s a big campus, and it’s very insular, so it’s very odd that her phone would be off campus,” Universe Ewunetie told ABC’s “Good Morning America” in an interview that aired Thursday. “Like, everything is on campus.”
Princeton University announced its search efforts Monday on Twitter, saying that Ewunetie “is 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weighs 130 pounds. She has brown eyes, black hair and light brown complexion.”
The university said Wednesday and Thursday that it had increased the presence of law enforcement on and around its campus, “including the use of a helicopter, drones and watercraft.”
Ewunetie had been on track to graduate in 2024. In Thursday’s interview, her brother called for urgency in the search.
“We can take any help we can find,” he said. “We just want the law to be faster because time is of the essence.”
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