University of Chicago Student Found Dead After 8 Days, Autopsy Results Inconclusive
A University of Chicago student was found dead in his dorm room after approximately eight days. Nicholas Barnes, 20, was found only after complaints were made of a foul odor in the building; an autopsy was inconclusive and authorities are awaiting toxicology results but do not suspect foul play.
"It was just really surprising to me to think somebody on this campus could go unnoticed for so long," Tinley Melvin, a junior at the university, told the Chicago Tribune. "It's everyone's worst fear that they would be so anonymous."
Reports state that Barnes used his admittance card to get into his dorm eight days prior to being found. No one knows how or when he died, but his body had already started to decompose when it was discovered.
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Barnes was from Pittsburgh, a third-year student focusing on Germanic studies. He also worked on "Sliced Bread," a campus literary production. His death has left students shaken that someone could be dead or missing for so long without anyone noticing.
"It's just strange," Neal Jochmann, a freshman, told the Tribune. "How the hell was he there that long? That's frightening."
Others are struggling to cope with Barnes' death, remembering the student and friend that he was to them.
"He was a brilliant and amicable guy who thought beyond himself," Kelsey Grant told the Sun Times. "He was just a wonderfully weird guy, super comfortable in his own skin. We were talking about death and he was saying he wasn't really afraid of it, and we both wondered what comes after you die. I hope there's something because people are really going to miss him."
The Barnes family is planning a funeral for him in his hometown of Pittsburgh, but the University of Chicago will hold its own memorial service in order to allow friends to say goodbye to Barnes.
"Our thoughts are with his family and friends, the Booth House community, residents and staff of I-House, and all who are touched by this loss," Karen Warren Coleman, vice president for campus life and student services said in a statement.
