The body of Northwestern University sophomore Harsha Maddula was recovered this evening by police from Wilmette Harbor.
University spokesman Alan Cubbage says the body was found floating between two boats near the Sheridan Road bridge over the harbor shorly before 7 p.m.
Maddula’s wallet with his Northwestern ID card and his cell phone were found on the body.
Maddula was last seen about 12:30 a.m. Saturday leaving an off-campus party about two miles from where his body was found.
Cubbage said Wilmette police investigators on the scene said there were no signs of foul play on the body, but that the cause of Maddula’s death would have to be determined by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.
Maddula, from New Hyde Park, N.Y., was a student in Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science.
Cubbage said it was not known why the extensive search of the harbor on Wednesday had failed to locate the body.
The search focused on the harbor after the investigation determined that the closest cell phone tower to the last signal received from Maddula’s phone about 1 a.m. Saturday was located in the harbor area.
Cubbage said that the timeline from when Maddula left the party to when the last cell phone signal was received would have been consistent with him walking from the party to the harbor,
At the news conference held about 10:20 p.m. at the edge of the university campus at Clark Street and Chicago Avenue in Evanston to announce the recovery of the body, Cubbage read a statement from University President Morton Schapiro, who was traveling out of state.
“On behalf of Northwestern University, I extend our deepest sympathies to Harsha’s family and to his many friends at Northwestern,” the statement read. “The loss of one member of the Northwestern community deeply affects us all.”
Plans for a memorial service had not been formulated as of late this evening.
Cubbage said staff members from the university’s counseling service would be available to talk to students who contacted them at 847-491-2151.
Top: NU spokesman Alan Cubbage speaks to reporters at the late-evening news conference announcing the recovery of the student’s body.