By Marlene LenthangNBC
News
The student from Princeton University in New Jersey, who disappeared on October 14, has been found dead, police sources told NBC News on Thursday.
The body of
Misrach Ewunetie, 20,
was discovered near the edge of the campus, next to the tennis courts and in a more remote area restricted to authorized vehicles, according to authorities.
Misrach Ewunetie.
Courtesy of Princeton University
University security teams told students Thursday that they would see more drones, helicopters and boats scouring the university for Ewunetie.
Before the discovery of the body, the girl's mother, Tiruedil Kassa, publicly asked anyone with information about the disappearance: "If you have anything, let us know, let the police know, let someone know."
"She's a very confident person, a lovely person,"
she said of her daughter.
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Ewunetie had attended an event on October 13 at the Terrace Club, a food hall, and returned to her dorm where her roommates saw her at 3 a.m.
But shortly afterward a roommate said she was no longer there, her brother, Universe Ewunetie, told NBC New.
Universe Ewunetie said he and his sister texted each other on October 13, and this is the last he heard from her.
On Sunday, his phone was turned off.
“We can't find his phone number.
We don't know, it's been off since Sunday, it was working before," Kassa told local station WKYC.
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Ewunetie, who is part of the class of 2024, went missing on Friday, the last day of school before the start of the week-long fall break on campus, a time when many students return home.
The Ivy League university said in an email to students that its Department of Public Safety was notified by Ewunetie's family Sunday night that they had not heard from her in several days and requested a welfare check.
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Since Sunday, Princeton University DPS had been leading the investigation into her disappearance in conjunction with the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office.
On Monday, the school issued an alert to the campus saying Ewunetie was missing.
On Wednesday and Thursday, Princeton University students were told to expect an increased presence by authorities on and around campus as the desperate search continued using a helicopter, drones and boats.
Universe Ewunetie said the family is originally from Ethiopia and that Misrach grew up in Euclid, Ohio.
She has no ties to the New Jersey area other than school, she added.
“She is loved and cared for, and we miss her.
We are looking for her,” she said.
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Cleveland City Councilman Charles Slife and Councilmember Rebecca Maurer also released a public video asking for help finding Ewunetie.
They said they worked with her at Minds Matter Cleveland, a nonprofit organization that provides academic and tutoring resources for high-achieving, low-income high school students.
“She is an amazing student, this is not normal behavior.
And we're asking all law enforcement and people at Princeton University to take this very seriously.
We want her to be found safe and sound," Maurer said in the clip.
Slife said Misrach worked with them for three years every weekend "to try to make sure she got to her dream college, and she was so excited when she got into Princeton."
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He described her on Facebook as the
valedictorian
of his class [student giving final speech] at Villa Angela-St.
Joseph in 2020 and said that she got a full trip to Princeton.
“She is a dedicated student currently studying sociology, and has interned at Bank of America and worked at McKinsey,” he wrote.
His high school, Villa Angela-St.
Joseph High School in Cleveland said Ewunetie graduated with honors.