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A 31-year-old doctoral student was found dead in a campus creek Wednesday morning.
Huaijun Meng, a doctoral student studying electrical and computer engineering, was found just before 8 a.m. near the south pedestrian bridge that crosses U.S. Highwau 51 near Wright Hall. Rod Sievers, university spokesman, said the body was discovered by some students who were walking over the south overpass.
Sievers said Meng was an international student of China who came to SIUC in fall 2007. Sievers said family members, including Meng's parents in China and brother in New Jersey, have been notified of his death.
Meng was last seen by his roommate, Yiqiang Ding, roughly about 1:15 p.m. Tuesday, Sievers said.
Todd Sigler, director of the Department of Public Safety, said foul play is not suspected but there would be an autopsy performed Wednesday night. Sievers said authorities would confirm the cause of death today.
Baojie Zhang, a graduate student studying mining engineering, lives in the apartment below Meng's residence in Southern Hills. Zhang said Meng moved into Southern Hills in January and was planning on moving to a townhouse with some friends.
"We got together a couple times," Zhang said. "He's kind of a quiet person."
Ding, a graduate student studying computer engineering, lived with Meng since January. Ding said he had known Meng for nearly one year and described him as a very good person.
"He's a person with a good heart, you know," Ding said.
Bob Gray, senior pastor of Our Lutheran Church in Carbondale, said he spent most of Wednesday with Ding. Gray said Meng's family would be arriving in Carbondale late Thursday and any plans for a local memorial service will be left up to them.
"Until the autopsy's been done, the family really doesn't know all the details or anything yet, so it's real difficult to deal with that," Gray said.
Gray said anyone wanting to send letters of condolence could e-mail them to lutheran@siu.edu and he would deliver them to the family.
Rosemary Simmons, director of the Counseling Center, said counselors had coordinated with Department of Public Safety officials since before noon Wednesday. Simmons said counselors would contact the College of Engineering to arrange counseling for faculty members and classmates of Meng.
"If the student was involved in a close-knit group, with other graduate students or faculty, it's helpful for us to meet with them as a group and help them process their feelings and talk about the impact of that death on them," Simmons said.
She added that students could see an on-call "emergency counselor" at the Counseling Center from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., or call 1-800-273-8255 (TALK) to reach a 24-hour counseling hotline.
"A lot of times, students just need a caring, professional voice to talk to," Simmons said.
Allison Petty contributed to this report.
Madeleine Leroux can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 268 or mleroux@siu.edu.
