Misrach Ewunetie: Princeton student's family claimed cops kept them 'in the dark' before her body was found
PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY: Misrach Ewunetie, a 20-year-old Princeton student was found dead 6 days after she went missing from campus. The student's family claims that crucial information regarding her disappearance was being withheld from them. Speaking to media, the family expressed its annoyance over being "kept in the dark" about her case by the authorities.
Misrach's brother Universe Ewunetie spoke to CNN last week just before her body was found and said, "There’s no constant update or interaction with us. We’re really kept in the dark." Misrach's body was discovered at around 1 pm on Thursday, October 20, according to local authorities. She was last seen at her university accommodation in Scully Hall. Her brother claimed that authorities have predicted that the case investigation will require a lot of time. He said, "That’s one thing we don’t have, we don’t have time."
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Universe called his sister "a precious, beautiful soul," and "a great listener." Speaking to CNN, Misrach's brother said she was someone who cares about people "beyond her." He also said that the family wasn't happy that Misrach went to Princeton as it is located far from the family's home in Ohio. Universe said that they "didn't want to discourage her." Universe, who along with other family members posted flyers about his missing sister on the New Jersey campus described it as a "nightmare I cannot wake up from."
The body of the 20-year-old was found by a maintenance worker behind the tennis court, close to the edge of the Ivy League campus, according to the Mercer County Prosecutor's office. According to the New York Post, authorities said they do not know the woman's precise cause of death despite the fact that there were no obvious signs of an injury and that it does not appear suspicious or criminal in nature. Police do not suspect that Ewunetie's death was the result of foul play, the Ivy League school added in a statement. “Misrach’s death is an unthinkable tragedy. Our hearts go out to her family, her friends and the many others who knew and loved her,” Princeton VP W Rochelle Calhoun said in a statement. "Princeton is a close-knit community, and we mourn Misrach together." Although the specifics of the event have not yet been made public, Calhoun said the school intends to host an event in Ewunetie's honor. The accomplished student vanished on October 14 and her disappearance ignited a ferocious search operation in New Jersey.
Two days after she was last seen, missing Princeton University student Misrach Ewunetie's phone last rang in a quiet street at 3am about two miles from the campus near Penns Neck on October 16 before it was turned off. Ewunetie was sharing her location with her younger brother and it pinged on Washington Road in West Windsor Township, said a report. "That’s the last place her phone pinged,” brother Universe Equnetie, 20, told The US Sun. “It’s very unlike her to turn off her phone, kids these days don’t turn off their phones, they love their phones."
According to Casey DeBlasio, a representative for the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office, an autopsy was carried out on Friday, but the medical examiner's office is still waiting for the toxicology report and the outcomes of other tests.
Who was Misrach Ewunetie?
Misrach, a top student, worked as a summer business analyst intern at the Ohio office of McKinsey & Company for the last two summers. She started at Princeton in the fall of 2020 and was supposed to graduate from the university in 2024. She participated in several student organizations on campus, including the Pre-College Research Institute, the Princeton Ethiopian and Eritrean Student Association, and Matriculate, which, according to its website, pairs students with "low-income, high-achieving high schoolers to serve as virtual advisers for them through the college application process."