Beau Solomon Murder Details: American Student Killed In Rome Was Reportedly Still Alive When Homeless Man Threw Him Into Tiber River

Beau Solomon was allegedly still alive when a homeless man beat him and dumped his body into the Tiber River just hours after the American college student arrived in Rome for a semester at John Cabot University, police say.

Solomon, 19, had gone missing after a night of drinking just hours before his orientation at the American school in central Rome. Solomon’s roommate reported him missing the following day, and within hours police found Solomon’s body in the Tiber River, with blood on his shirt and a wound on his head, the New York Times reported.

After learning that Beau had gone missing, his parents found that more than $1,700 had been charged to Solomon’s credit card in Milan.

On Monday, police in Rome arrested 40-year-old Massimo Galioto, a homeless man suspected of beating Beau Solomon during a fight and then dumping the American teenager into the river.

Police said that Solomon got into a fight with Galioto, the Daily Mail reported, and the homeless man claimed that Solomon fell into the river.

Galioto’s partner, Alessia Pennacchioli, claimed that Beau Solomon was the one who started the encounter.

“Beau came walking down the riverbank, drunk and angry,” she told the Daily Mail. “He could barely stand on his feet. He ran into Max [Massimo], who came out of his tent because the dogs were barking.”

Pennacchioli added, “Beau hit Max and Max hit back. They got into a fight and Beau fell into the river. It was a tragic accident. Max didn’t push him into the river, he fell because of the fight.”

What happened to #BeauSolomon? The last 16 hours in the life of the American student murdered in the center of Romehttps://t.co/WJbtH0LWjh

— Repubblica (@repubblica) July 6, 2016

Witnesses confirmed that Beau Solomon was alive when he fell into the river, the Daily Mail reported. An autopsy found that Solomon had a wound on his head that suggested he may have hit his head on rocks when he fell into the river.

While new details of Beau Solomon’s murder were released, the student’s grieving parents arrived in Rome and met with Pope Francis, NBC News reported. A photo showed Jodi and Nick Solomon meeting with the Roman Catholic Church leader, and a release from the Vatican noted that Francis expressed “feelings of deepest sympathy and compassion, and his closeness in prayer to the Lord for the young man who died so tragically.”

WATCH: Pope Francis meets with parents of U.S. student Beau Solomon found dead in Rome: https://t.co/1W4JFgFd91 https://t.co/necGrqibYY

— Good Morning America (@GMA) July 6, 2016

Other tributes poured in for Beau Solomon, who was remembered as a popular student and a good athlete.

“In our family, he is the one who does it all right. He’s an incredible athlete. He is the one that keeps us all together,” his brother, Jake Solomon, told NBC News before Beau’s body was found. “He was driven, career oriented.”

Officials at Solomon’s college also remembered him.

“Beau Solomon was a bright and caring young man who lived the Wisconsin Idea. All of us at UW-Madison are greatly saddened by this loss,” Rebecca Blank, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, wrote on Twitter.

Solomon’s family revealed another tragic twist to the story. As a child, Beau Solomon was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and even participated in the Make-A-Wish Foundation, fulfilling his dream of meeting Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre.

“Meeting all the players was thrilling, fun, exciting and all of the good things you can think of,” the young Solomon told Packers.com at the time. “It was fun meeting Brett and seeing that he’s just a regular guy like anybody else. My favorite part was when he was making faces at my baby brother, Max, to make him laugh while we were taking pictures.”

Police have taken Mossimo Galioto into custody Tuesday on suspicion of aggravated homicide in the death of Beau Solomon. Charges have not yet been announced.

[Image via Facebook]