The following story was in today's "Forum," the newspaper in Fargo. It is pretty sad, and a little bit scary for me.
Police say a cause of death for Patrick Kycia, whose body was pulled Tuesday from the Red River, likely won’t be known for some time.
Not long after the body of the Minnesota State University Moorhead student was found, police searched a fraternity house where Kycia spent some of his final hours.
Police said there were no obvious signs of trauma on the 19-year-old student’s body, and the remains were sent to the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy and positive identification.
Preliminary autopsy results are not expected until Thursday morning at the earliest, Police Lt. Robert Larson said.
Kycia, who was a MSUM sophomore, may have left a party at the Phi Sigma Beta fraternity sometime between midnight and 2 a.m. Friday, police have said.
Kycia, who according to a friend had been drinking heavily, never reached his home several blocks away.
His wallet was found near a pool of vomit in a driveway in a neighborhood between his home and the fraternity.
Police said Tuesday they had unconfirmed sightings of Kycia walking north on Eighth Street near Main Avenue between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. Friday morning.
Searchers recovered one of Kycia’s shoes from the Red River as darkness fell Monday evening.
What police said are likely Kycia’s remains were discovered in the river about 9:20 a.m. Tuesday in the area of 12th Avenue North in Moorhead, about three city blocks downriver from where the shoe was found.
Later Tuesday, authorities found shoe prints in the riverbank near the tennis courts of Memorial Park and determined that is where Kycia entered the river.
Larson said police have found no signs of foul play but said the investigation is ongoing.
Rose Foley, Kycia’s mother, said her son was on the anti-depressant Paxil a year ago for about six months. She said he was a perfectionist who was often hard on himself about grades and other things.
The drug seemed to have little effect, which is why Kycia – who wanted to study pharmacy – stopped taking it, his mother said. He had seemed to be in good spirits lately, Foley added.
Larson said early Tuesday that the fraternity house at 611 10th St. S. was under investigation, and by 5 p.m. nearly a dozen police officers descended on the property to execute a search warrant.
Larson described the action as a fact-finding mission and said no arrests are imminent.
Attempts to find someone willing to comment at the fraternity Tuesday were unsuccessful.
On Monday, the Grand Chapter of Phi Sigma Kappa issued a written statement on behalf of the local chapter asserting that the party Kycia attended was not an official fraternity activity.
The statement also said Kycia was not provided any drugs or alcohol by the chapter or its members.
MSUM President Roland Barden said Tuesday he was barred by law from discussing potential disciplinary action regarding the fraternity, which is an official student organization.
In general, he said, the university has the authority to revoke an organization’s status if it violates university rules.
Barden said under school rules, alcohol cannot be served at student organization events.
The Moorhead fraternity drew attention last year when Jason James Reinhardt died there after drinking at a bar to celebrate his 21st birthday.
Reinhardt’s mother, Anne Buchanan, said Tuesday Kycia’s death brought back horrible memories of what happened to her son.
“I’ve been in tears most of the day today and yesterday,” Buchanan said.
She spoke to some members of Phi Sigma Kappa and was disappointed by what they said.
“They don’t think they’re involved in any way, it just happened that he (Kycia) was there last,” she said. “They’re tied to it whether they like it or not.”
In light of the two tragedies, Buchanan said she’d like to see the fraternity go dry and focus on community service.
“But if that doesn’t happen, I can’t help but think they should be shut down,” she said.
Several MSUM students said if Kycia chose to drink heavily that night, the fraternity is not at fault.
“It’s sad that they automatically blame the fraternity,” said MSUM freshman Bob Agnes.
“I don’t think anybody made him drink,” said freshman Bobbi Timmerman.
Given the fraternity’s history, Kycia’s father said he wants to know if it had a role in his son’s death.
“I want to find out what’s going on with that and if they had any link to Patrick’s death,” Julian Kycia said.
On campus, missing person posters remained Tuesday but word that Kycia’s body had been found quickly spread.
Barden said counseling will be made available to Kycia’s roommates and friends.
At Kycia’s home, roommates and friends gathered to grieve Tuesday, but declined to comment publicly.
Kycia’s mother said her son’s death raises many questions.
“The entire night was something that was completely not like Patrick,” she said.
Readers can reach Forum reporters Dave Olson at (701) 241-5555 and Amy Dalrymple at (701) 241-5590 Reporter Dave Roepke contributed to this story.
http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=104166§ion=News
