Body of missing Princeton student Misrach Ewunetie found; death ‘not suspicious or criminal’

The body of missing Princeton University student Misrach Ewunetie was found Thursday on the New Jersey school’s campus following a multi-day 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 Mercer County Prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

“An autopsy by the Middlesex County Medical Examiner’s Office will determine Ms. Ewunetie’s cause and manner of death,” the statement continued. “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 volunteering at a Princeton Terrace Club event last Thursday, 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.

Misrach Ewunetie

Her phone’s location was traced to an off-campus residence, about a 30-minute walk from her dorm, 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 then increased the presence of law enforcement on and around its campus, “including the use of a helicopter, drones and watercraft.”

Earlier on Thursday, Gov. Phil Murphy said he was praying for Ewunetie’s safe return. By the evening, he was “heartbroken” to learn of her death.

“Our hearts go out to her family, friends, and fellow students who knew and loved her,” he wrote on Twitter.

Ewunetie, an Ohio native, had been on track to graduate in 2024. She was a valedictorian at Villa Angela-St. Joseph high school in Cleveland and was attending Princeton on a scholarship.

“Misrach’s death is an unthinkable tragedy,” Princeton Vice President W. Rochelle Calhoun said in a statement. “Our hearts go out to her family, her friends and the many others who knew and loved her.”

Calhoun also said the university was planning “an opportunity for students to join together and remember Misrach.” The school also offered increased counseling support to students.

Ewunetie was not the first Princeton student to die on campus this year. In May, 21-year-old Jazz Chang was found dead in a lake on campus. Chang’s cause of death was not reported, but foul play was not suspected.

Just days later, 19-year-old student Justin Lim died at his home in Chicago. The university said Lim “lost his life to mental illness.”

In September, a Princeton staff member, identified only as a 31-year-old woman, died by suicide on campus.