Messages From Sunil Tripathi’s Family and Brown University on His Death

Brown University/Brown University, via Reuters Sunil Tripathi.

The family of Sunil Tripathi said Thursday that his body had been found in the water off of Indian Point Park, near Providence, R.I., Jess Bidgood wrote in The New York Times.

The discovery comes less than a week after Mr. Tripathi was wrongly accused via social media of being one of the bombers in the Boston Marathon attacks.

According to the Providence Journal, the Rhode Island State Department of Health confirmed Tripathi’s identity through a forensic dental examination earlier Thursday, two days after the coach of the Brown University crew team reported a body floating in the river.

The senior has been missing since March 16th, when he disappeared from his apartment without his wallet and cell phone. He was on approved temporary leave from the school and was struggling with depression.

A screenshot of a Facebook page for the “Lend your Hand” campaign.

Mr. Tripathi’s body was found on the very day that Brown University students undertook a campaign called “Lend your Hand” to try to find him. Students and faculty gathered on the College Green and wrote messages for the missing student on their hands. Photos of these messages were posted on Facebook and shared via social media. “This campaign is designed to keep that momentum going, but in a positive way to advance the search for our missing brother,” his sister Sangeeta said before event.

A Thursday morning post on the Facebook page set up by the family called “Help us find Sunil” said:

On April 23, our beloved Sunil was discovered in the waters off India Point Park in Providence, Rhode Island.

As we carry indescribable grief, we also feel incredible gratitude. To each one of you-from our hometown to many distant lands-we extend our thanks for the words of encouragement, for your thoughts, for your hands, for your prayers, and for the love you have so generously shared.

Your compassionate spirit is felt by Sunil and by all of us.

This last month has changed our lives forever, and we hope it will change yours too. Take care of one another. Be gentle, be compassionate. Be open to letting someone in when it is you who is faltering. Lend your hand. We need it. The world needs it.

With love,
The Tripathi Family

An e-mailed message from Brown University President Christina Paxson said:

“It is with profound sadness that I write to share news that the state medical examiner has confirmed the death of Brown student Sunil Tripathi.

For more than a month our community has sought to support the Tripathi family in their courageous and tireless efforts to search for Sunil. We are grateful to the commitment of law enforcement during this time and to friends locally and globally who have contributed in myriad ways throughout the search. We extend our deepest condolences to Sunil’s family for their loss and for the immeasurable pain they have endured during this period.”

The cause of Tripathi’s death is still undetermined.