The Princeton University student who went missing and was found dead on campus in October died by suicide, according to the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office.
Officials released the update on Wednesday, informing that the Middlesex Regional Medical Examiner’s Office performed the autopsy on 20-year-old Misrach Ewunetie and discovered that her cause of death was “Bupropion, Escitalopram and Hydroxyzine Toxicity.”
Update on the Death of Princeton University Student Misrach Ewunetie pic.twitter.com/1A24PU0PjS
— Mercer Co Prosecutor (@MercerCoPros) December 28, 2022
As News Onyx previously reported, people reported that they last saw Ewunetie on Friday, Oct. 14, around 3 a.m. near Scully Hall. She was officially reported missing on Sunday, Oct. 16. Four days later, the 20-year-old’s body was discovered behind the school’s tennis courts at approximately 1 p.m.
According to the U.S. Sun, Ewunetie didn’t contact her family and friends for days. Her family became worried when they attempted to contact her, yet she could not be reached. According to her 23-year-old brother, Jhonatan, Ewunetie had an interview on Saturday, Oct. 15, regarding her American citizenship application since their family migrated from Ethiopia to America in 2008. But the young student didn’t show up.
Princeton University students and community members gathered in the school’s chapel for a candlelight vigil to remember Ewunetie, who received a full-ride scholarship.
Ewunetie was an undergraduate studying sociology with interest in computer science. She was a New College West and Terrace Club member, which dedicated a newsletter page to her, describing Ewunetie as “kind and a loving friend.” It also included an instructional page on how to make paper cranes in her memory.
Two years before she died, Villa Angela-St Joseph High School’s newspaper wrote an article about Ewunetie receiving a full-ride scholarship to Prince University through a QuestBridge National College Match program.
In the article, Ewunetie expressed her relief after getting matched with Princeton, saying, “It felt like weight off my shoulders, and I wouldn’t have to stress too much about college decisions anymore.”
In high school, she took four AP and numerous honors classes, earning a 4.31 cumulative GPA and ranking first out of 107 students.
