<p>I do the same thing, PG, except of our cat lounging in one of his ridiculous contorted positions. It’s a great conversation starter with the kids. They usually respond within seconds, even if they’re in class or doing something…so it’s probably a bit of a cheap trick on my part.</p>
<p>At freshman orientation at some schools, parents are given contact information they might use should they suspect a child is MIA, and attempts will be made to track down the student. But, if students are checking in with family on an irregular basis, it could be days before they become concerned.</p>
<p>I have heard of parents of students with chronic medical conditions who make arrangements through the disabilities office for professors to sound an alarm if a student does not show up for class without sending an e-mail. In those cases, I would expect that someone would attempt to contact the student and be prepared to enter the room if the student did not respond. But, this would need to be set up ahead of time, and the illness would have to be known.</p>
<p>When I was in college, very few students had singles so it was far, far less likely that a student could suddenly lose consciousness or die and go undetected for very long, while on campus. However, still within the realm of possibility that a student might not return for the night without informing anyone, at a time before answering machines or cell phones.</p>
<p>I note that reports say the student was living in I House, which is not a regular U of C dorm, full of undergrads.</p>
<p><a href=“http://ihouse.uchicago.edu/”>http://ihouse.uchicago.edu/</a></p>
<p>Actually, I thought that I House was only open to graduate students or the equivalent, so this is puzzling.</p>
<p>@Consolation, because Pierce was knocked down this year the college has changed I-house to undergrad housing.
This is so incredibly sad. What an amazing young man he appeared to be. </p>
<p>It looks as if some wings are still I-house and some are undergrad.</p>
<p>This kid reminds me in many ways of my own S, in looks, personality, and interests, as far as one can determine. Ironically, S decided against the U of C because he thought he might become "one of those people who never come out of their room. (Not that this kid was one of them.) Coincidentally, S now lives in I-house in NYC. And when looking through the pictures of Nicholas Barnes, I noted that he owned exactly the same pair of sneakers, even the same odd color, as S did. His poor family. Bad enough to lose your beloved son, but to have this horror surrounding it.</p>
<p>Short-term rooms are no longer available, but events are open to the public. Living quarters are only for undergrads for the time being. The new dorm being constructed should open in 2016, so I imagine that I-House will have rooms available for the public at that time.</p>
<p><a href=“http://ihouse.uchicago.edu/residency/residency_short.shtml”>http://ihouse.uchicago.edu/residency/residency_short.shtml</a></p>
<p>This is so terribly sad for the family of this young man… but several years ago there was a case in which a student was not seen and later found to have been murdered off-campus. His friends were calling him without getting a response and they were posting messages on his dorm room door to contact them.</p>
<p>Then there’s the sad story of the missing Brown student, Sunil Tripathi. Amateur Internet sleuths mistakenly reported Tripathi’s resemblance to photos of one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects. Later his was discovered, drowned. Not only is your son missing – but then to be linked as a terrorist suspect – then to be found to have died accidentally weeks prior. </p>
<p>A Bates College kid studying abroad in Rome through a Trinity College program disappeared after dinner on Wednesday, and they apparently notified the police and started looking for him by the next day. It was in the local newspaper by Friday.</p>
<p>My kid just texted and said that a few minutes ago, according to his family, he was found dead or presumed to be dead. Not sure which yet and I don’t know where my son got the info, but the father is in Rome. Very sad if true. </p>
<p>Italy and US kids studying there do not seem to be a great combo.</p>
<p>Here’s an article confirming the death in Rome. How ghastly!</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.sunjournal.com/news/lewiston-auburn/2014/02/21/bates-student-reported-dead-italy/1495509”>http://www.sunjournal.com/news/lewiston-auburn/2014/02/21/bates-student-reported-dead-italy/1495509</a></p>
<p>Here’s an earlier article, indicating he was last at a bar drinking before he disappeared. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/22/world/europe/italy-american-student-missing/”>U.S. student studying abroad found dead in Rome rail tunnel - CNN;
<p>Here is the post on Trinity College’s website about the incident, reporting him missing</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.trincoll.edu/NewsEvents/NewsArticles/pages/RomeCampus.aspx”>http://www.trincoll.edu/NewsEvents/NewsArticles/pages/RomeCampus.aspx</a></p>
<p>Here’s the post on the Bates College website about the disappearance, reporting him missing</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.bates.edu/news/2014/02/21/statement-on-john-durkin-15/”>http://www.bates.edu/news/2014/02/21/statement-on-john-durkin-15/</a></p>
<p>It’s too bad that the group didn’t stick together. It is always dangerous allowing one person to remain alone or go off or stay with a new group when drinking, especially in an unfamiliar city and country. People can easily slip something into a drink that affects the person or the person may be more incapacitated than he appears. So very sad for all. Hope everyone who may have been involved in the death are found and answer for their actions. Can’t imagine the family’s pain!</p>
<p>Very sad. 
</p>
<p>Several of my son’s friends (including his roommate) just came back from spending last semester in Rome and I’m assuming he knows some of the students who are there now - but he didn’t know John personally. </p>
<p>Two years ago, one of their students, a freshman at the time, studying during short term in the Shetland Islands, went swimming in the North Sea during a BBQ on the beach and collasped and died after getting out of the water. Then last year, a freshman died after sliding down a railing in a staircase, fell several floors and died. It’s such a small student body and so many tragedies to deal with in just a few short years. </p>
<p>It makes me glad that my employer requires we check in if we are NOT going to be at work. They’ve found several people who died prematurely, as well as saved someone’s life who had fallen into a diabetic coma</p>
<p>Wow, collapsing and dying after swimming–sounds young for a heart attack. Did they figure out why the person died? Awful that the person died from sliding down staircase railing (on purpose?). Falling several floors would do it. So many are having terms abroad – guess this is the dark side of it. Some of it could happen anywhere, but harder to know how to interpret cultural differences and get help in another country. </p>
<p>HI, I recall they were going to do an autopsy but I never learned the outcome. Speculation, at the time, was shock from the icy water, but I have no idea if that could actually cause someone to die. Maybe some underlying heart issue which was unknown. </p>
<p>IIRC, the other student was just doing something stupid after coming home from a football game (I think he was on the team, too,) then going up to his room to get his wallet to go out somewhere with friends. Kids do this kind of stuff all the time and fortunately for 99% they get away with it. </p>
<p>You try to think of stupid things your kid might do and warn against - but it is impossible to cover all the bases. I know the last thing I would think to tell my college kid is, “don’t slide on stair railings.” </p>
<p>It has just been reported that the young man who disappeared in Rome was found in a train tunnel and had been run over by a train. Of course, that does not mean that it was the actual cause of death. He could have been murdered and his body left there. Hopefully an autopsy will reveal more. </p>
<p>Terribly sad, in any case.</p>
<p>OMG, how horrible!!! </p>
<p>The train report comes (as so often) from the Daily Mail UK. Terribly sad. </p>