Family confirms body found in Providence River is Sunil Tripathi, the missing Brown student

His name made headlines after someone mistook the young man for one of the Boston Marathon Bombers, but sadly the family of Sunil Tripathi has confirmed that the body removed from the Providence River was indeed their son.

“On April 23, our beloved Sunil was discovered in the waters off India Point Park in Providence,” his family wrote in a statement.

Sunil Tripathi missing since March, has been found, dead in the Providence River

Tripathi, age 22, left his apartment near campus on March 16, leaving his wallet, identification and bicycle at home. He never returned.

A round-the-clock search by his relatives, who temporarily moved to Providence and worked with the police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to try to find him, began.

“He’s very quiet, he’s very private, he’s very intellectual,” Mr. Tripathi’s mother, Judy, said in an interview last week. “He admitted to some depression, but he said that he could figure it out, he could handle it.”

The family spoke daily with Sunil and worried greatly.

After authorities released photos of the Marathon bombing suspects, someone misidentified Tripathi triggering a cascade of false allegations across the Internet.

“It was absolutely horrible,” said Ms. Tripathi, who said her family knew immediately that neither of the men in the photographs was her son.

The body was found in the river behind the Wyndham Garden Providence Hotel.

The authorities used dental records to identify the body as Mr. Tripathi’s. They did not immediately determine the cause of his death, but said his body had been in the water for some time.

“Be open to letting someone in when it is you who is faltering,” read the Tripathi family’s statement. “Lend your hand. We need it. The world needs it.”