By Anne Levin

Misrach Ewunetie

Two vigils were held on Monday, October 24 on the Princeton University campus to honor the life of Misrach Ewunetie, the 20-year-old student found dead near the school’s tennis courts last Thursday, October 20 after being missing for six days. A third vigil was on Tuesday evening, October 25, and a GoFundMe campaign launched to help Ewunetie’s family cover funeral, travel, and other costs had raised more than $137,000 by Friday morning, October 28.

One of the vigils, at which family members were present, was hosted by the Princeton Ethiopian and Eritrean Student Association at the University Chapel, with some 500 from the University community in attendance, according to an article in The Daily Princetonian. The other was hosted through the Office of Religious Life at Murray-Dodge Hall. Tuesday’s vigil was scheduled for 8 p.m. at Terrace Club, the eating club to which Ewunetie belonged.

A junior from Cleveland, Ohio, who lived in Scully Hall and was majoring in sociology with a minor in computer science, Ewunetie helped out at a Terrace Club event on Thursday night, October 13, and was last seen by a suitemate brushing her teeth at about 3 a.m. on Friday, October 14. At 4:30 a.m., her roommate returned to the dorm and Ewunetie was not there, according to her brother, Universe, in an interview with ABC News.

After she failed to show up at an interview for her American citizenship application on Saturday, and was unreachable all weekend, Ewunetie’s family contacted the University’s Department of Public Safety on Sunday, October 16. A Tiger Alert was sent to the campus community the following day asking for information on her whereabouts. A search of the campus and Lake Carnegie and the surrounding area was launched Wednesday. Ewunetie’s body was found on Thursday afternoon, October 20, by a University facilities worker.

Two hours later, the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office released a statement that the body had been found, and there were “no obvious signs of injury and her death does not appear suspicious or criminal in nature.”

Some of Ewunetie’s belongings, including her cell phone, were found with her body. An autopsy was performed on Friday by the Middlesex County Medical Examiner’s Office. The cause and manner of death will be released by the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office when the medical examiner provides results.

“This will not take place until all testing reports, including toxicology results, are received,” said Casey diBlasio of the Prosecutor’s Office, in an email on Tuesday. “My understanding from the ME’s Office is that will be weeks.”

The GoFundMe page, which was organized Monday by Nate Tesfaye of Washington, D.C., refers to Ewunetie’s “sudden death and bizarre circumstances surrounding her passing,” it reads. “On Thursday, October 20, our dearest and loving daughter, sister, niece, cousin, and friend, Misrach, was found dead on the Princeton University campus after missing nearly a week. There are simply no words that can encapsulate the grief and mourning that such an event has brought to Misrach’s family. She was the best of us; she had the kindest heart, the sharpest mind, and the most considerate soul. To lose her is just heartbreaking.”

Visit gofundme.com/f/donate-in-memory-of-misrach-ewunetie/donate to contribute.

This story was updated on October 28.