Update:

Authorities identify body as missing Purdue student

From Staff Reports

The body recovered by authorities in a pond adjacent to the Purdue University Power Plant on Thursday night has been identified as a Purdue student missing for a week.

According to a statement from county coroner Martin Avolt, the body has been identified as that of Jeremy P. Francis, 22, from Flora, Ind.

The cause of death is not being released at this time. According to the coroner, "There is no evidence suggesting that Mr. Francis' death was influenced by any other individual."

The body was found around 5:30 p.m. Thursday floating face down in five feet of water in the pond located just northwest of the power plant. That area is immediately south of the Purdue campus and approximately 10 blocks away from where Francis was last seen.

The body was located with the assistance of a police helicopter due the heavily wooded area around the isolated pond. An autopsy was performed Friday morning that confirmed the identity.

Francis was last seen alive around 3:30 a.m. on July 13 after leaving a tavern near campus. A missing person’s report was filed Sunday and authorities have been searching by foot, boat and air since.

According to the coroner, the condition of the body when found indicates that the it had been in the pond since last Friday morning.

Body found near campus

While searching for a missing Purdue student Thursday, authorities found the body of a yet-to-be identified male in his early 20s in a pond northwest of the Purdue University South Power Plant.