A 19-year-old University of Michigan student was found dead in freezing temperatures after leaving a fraternity party wearing only a T-shirt.
Lucas Mattson, an engineering student from Juneau, Alaska, left a fraternity party and was last witnessed around 1 a.m. on Friday without a coat, Fox News Digital reported. He had a light-colored T-shirt, blue jeans and white sneakers when he left, officials said. The temperature fell to as low as zero degrees at the time, WACB reported. (RELATED: Polar Vortex Could Trigger Major Snowstorm, Soul-Piercing Freeze Across Interstate 95 Corridor)
Mattson was not reported missing until around 15 hours later, according to the Ann Arbor Police Department (AAPD). Officers launched a coordinated search with the University of Michigan Division of Public Safety and Security and the school Police Department’s drone unit.
Crews found Mattson’s body at 12:05 p.m. Saturday, police said. The almost 20-hour search took place in extreme cold conditions.
Investigators found no clear indications of trauma and do not suspect foul play, police said. The Washtenaw County Medical Examiner’s Office noted Tuesday that the results of their autopsy remain pending, the Detroit News reported.
University of Michigan President Domenico Grasso sent a letter to the campus community Monday and ordered top officials to retrace the events of that evening. “We must let the investigators complete their work and refrain from speculation until the facts are known,” Grasso wrote.
Grasso confirmed Mattson attended the fraternity party as a guest and was not a member or pledge.
A fellow student told WXYZ that the death hit close to home. “A lot of my friends were at the same venue that Lucas was at, so it’s really sad to see that that could literally happen to anybody,” sophomore Riley Maczik said.
“It’s an undeniable tragedy,” Blake Becker, another sophomore, said.