Misrach Ewunetie’s body was discovered on the Princeton campus on Thursday, six days after she vanished. Police have no suspicion of foul play.
A Princeton student who was discovered dead near campus on Thursday had her cell phone on her, according to authorities, despite her family’s assertion that it ‘pinged’ away from the institution on Sunday.
Misrach Ewunetie, 20 years old and from Ohio, was last seen on October 14 at approximately 3 a.m. outside Scully Hall, her residence at Princeton University
According to various law enforcement sources who talked to NBC 4, her body was discovered Thursday near the university’s tennis courts.
Ewunetie’s family, who came to the United States from Ethiopia in 2008, raised the alarm on Sunday, stating that they used the Find My Phone app to identify that the phone ‘pinged’ near Montgomery Township, a neighborhood many miles from the campus.
The ping was located near Penns Neck in a New Jersey home development.
The phone was discovered near the student’s body, according to Fox News, and investigators do not believe it was planted.
It is unknown whether the phone ping was inaccurate or whether Ewunetie visited the location and returned.
The police do not believe that she engaged in a struggle.
According to the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, her death does not appear suspicious or criminal.
No other information regarding the cause of death has been provided, and an autopsy will now be conducted.
Misrach Ewunetie, age 20, was last seen on October 14 at approximately 3 a.m. outside Scully Hall, where she resided at Princeton University.
Ewunetie was discovered in this secluded region of the Princeton campus.
It is situated behind the school’s tennis courts and Recreation Department buildings.
Officials are shown near the incident, which is located on the campus’s northwest boundary.
The remains of the young student were discovered in a distant region of the Ivy League campus that is only accessible to authorized badge holders.
The night she was last seen, she had volunteered at Princeton’s Terrace Club for a live music event.
It was a last-minute arrangement, as another person who had been scheduled to work the event had dropped out.
Her body was discovered 1.5 miles from her home, near State Road by the university’s Recreation Department, which houses a walking trail, community pool, and sports facilities.
The disappearance of Ewunetie prompted a multi-day search that included the deployment of drones, helicopters, and watercraft surrounding the Ivy League campus.
W. Rochelle Calhoun, vice president of campus life at Princeton, described Ewunetie’s death as a “incomprehensible tragedy.”
She stated in a statement, “Our hearts go out to her family, her friends, and the many others who knew and loved her.”
“We are organizing a time for students to get together and honor Misrach.
When specifics are known, information on the gathering will be shared individually.
Multiple aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles were also utilized in the search for the missing 20-year-old.
Misrach had volunteered for a live music event at Princeton’s Terrace Club the night she was last seen.
Due to a lack of search warrants, campus police visited Ewunetie’s housing estate three times and conducted a canine search, but were unable to enter any residences.
This Thursday, Universe, Ewunetie’s brother, asserted that his family was not receiving complete information on the police’s hunt.
CNN was informed by Universe that there are no frequent updates or interactions with the company. We are indeed kept in the dark.
Police officers informed Universe that the probe would be time-consuming.
“This is what we lack,” he stated. ‘We don’t have time.’
Misrach Ewunetie is depicted beside her sibling Universe. He stated that the family was yearning for answers
Misrach’s brother, Universe Ewunetie, claims the family has been ‘kept in the dark’ by authorities in their search for the missing undergraduate.
Misrach was last seen at Scully Hall on the Princeton campus, as depicted in the image.
Terrace Club is one of the non-exclusive clubs at Princeton, requiring members to only sign up for membership, and is unaffiliated with the university.
The clubs are for the school’s upperclassmen to have lunch and engage in various activities.
Other clubs demand membership applications from prospective members.
She was a club member on “duty,” performing housekeeping duties during a live musical performance.
According to the club’s Instagram page, Raavi and Jackie Marchal were performing that night.
Misrach, along with other members on duty, left for the night once the club had closed and all obligations had been completed.
According to her brother, she returned to her hostel at 3 a.m. after the event.
Her roommates reported seeing her at 3am. Then, a second roommate of hers stated that she had not seen her after 4 a.m., and since then, no one has seen her.
They did not search for her since they assumed she had returned home.
The first year they were not on college due to the epidemic was terrible for her and many others, as recounted by Universe.
This year, though, she has been attempting to join the Terrace Club as a means of establishing new friends.
Misrach volunteered for the Terrace Club’s event on October 13, the night seen.
Ewunetie graduated from the Minds Matter Cleveland program in 2020, which assists low-income, high-achieving kids.
The executive director of the NGO, Sara Elagad, told CNN that her former student’s absence was highly uncharacteristic.
Elagad remarked, ‘It is not at all in character for her to purposefully disappear or lose contact with her family.’
Planet Princeton reports that Ewunetie was the valedictorian of her high school and was majoring in sociology with a minor in computer science at Princeton.
Her relatives reported that her disappearance was even more concerning after she missed a meeting on her citizenship application the next day.
Universe stated, “She is the jewel of the household, [my parents’] lone daughter and the youngest.”
She is highly cherished.