Police are looking into whether hazing played a role in the death of a Dartmouth College student whose body was found in a river over the weekend.
Won Jang was last seen around 9:30 p.m. Saturday by docks on the Connecticut River, and he was reported missing Sunday afternoon, police in Hanover, New Hampshire, said.
His body was found at about 7:30 p.m. Sunday in the water about 65 feet offshore, police said.
Jang, 20, was a member of the class of 2026 and a biomedical engineering major from Middletown, Delaware, who “enthusiastically took part in the Dartmouth community,” Dartmouth’s dean of the college, Scott Brown, said in a statement offering condolences to the community.
Two of Jang’s friends wrote in an email to The Dartmouth, the college’s student newspaper, that he had attended a joint event Saturday night of his fraternity, Beta Alpha Omega, and Alpha Phi, a sorority. The event had involved alcohol, the two friends said.
Police Chief Charles Dennis told WMUR-TV of Manchester that they would be looking into whether hazing was involved.
“There is some evidence of alcohol involved, certainly from witnesses and talking with things like that,” he told the station. “Again, that’s all part of our investigation. We did receive an anonymous email this morning through the college that there may be some hazing involved, so we certainly will look into that aspect, too.”
The assistant to the chief of police, Elizabeth Rathburn, confirmed on the phone that investigators are looking into hazing, among other things.
Police have said that a cause of death has not been determined but that foul play is not suspected after an initial investigation.
“The Hanover Police Department’s investigation into this death remains active and ongoing. The Department has interviewed numerous people and is reviewing all evidence collected,” police said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.
The department said it was awaiting autopsy results “as part of reaching its determination.”
Police…
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