Missing Student Body Pulled From River ‘Very Possible’ Sunil Tripathi

A missing student’s body could have been found on Tuesday, but the Rhode Island state medical examiner’s office won’t know until they identify the remains. A Providence, RI police Lieutenant Joseph Donnelly said Tuesday night that the “it’s very, very possible” that the young man in his 20s found floating in the Providence River could be Sunil Tripathi.

The body was discovered by a Brown University rowing coach. It was described as having been in the water for an undetermined period of time that was “more than a couple of days.”

Sunil Tripathi, 22, was last seen alive in the Brown University campus area on March 16. Since then, his family, Providence police, and even the FBI have been engaged in a heart-breaking search for the missing student.

The philosophy major was on leave from his classes from the Ivy League school. When he disappeared, he left behind his wallet, ID, and cell phone, according to his missing persons Facebook page.

The story took a sad turn for the Tripathi family during the early morning hours of the Friday manhunt for the Boston Marathon bombers. Social media posters claimed that a police scanner had named Sunil Tripathi as one of the two bombers they were seeking.

Both Twitter and Reddit were among the sites used by posters spreading the cruel accusation.

The suspected Boston bombers were ultimately identified as Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Reddit has since apologized and offered to raise awareness of the ongoing search for Sunil Tripathi.

The medical examiner’s autopsy today must also answer the sad question of whether the deceased died in an accident, by suicide, or foul play — a challenging question if the young man in question has been in the water for over a month.

It’s important to remember that the authorities have not released a statement about the identity of the remains. At the time of writing, the family of Sunil Tripathi hadn’t been contacted about the recovery of the missing student’s body.