Missing Student Found Dead in Fraternity House

Reader Comments
Back to blog

when you can't find someone? Would you look in the place that they live? I would to, only that wasn't the fraternity house. Would you look where they were last seen? I would to, only that was near the Chicago lakefront where the majority of the search effort was focused.
The presumption in the report is that he was dead for the full 8 days and that's the part that I took issue with. That has not been substantied in any way. He was in a closed room that was locked from the inside, for what could have been much less than 8 days, with an open window in a house that almost never had anyone in it because the brothers were out looking for him.
Based on what I have read many other places this has created a great deal of unfounded and under informed finger pointing at the fraternity. You may say "The article said that the death had been ruled an accident. So there was no need for the lengthy post.." but based on the reaction I've read and your own accustation that has not stopped anyone from creating misinformed theories and blaming the innocent.
Yes the victims are the family and Ben and I mourn for them like many others. But the brothers were also extremely close to him. I knew this young man and it is a deep and personal loss for a lot of people. You may mock the relationship between fraternity brothers but that's your problem or misunderstanding. You mock them with terms like "bros" or "brosephs" but it's unfair to demean their relationship with him just because you can't get past a stereotype. The men of this fraternity are very close and take their bond very seriously. How would you feel if I mocked the loss of you finding a close friend dead?
My problem, as I said, with this report is the same I have seen everywhere else. Saying effectively "they wonder how he could been in the house for 8 days and them not notice" is misleading, incomplete and inaccurate.

Sean Cassidy of IL 5:39PM November 25, 2008

The article said that the death had been ruled an accident. So there was no need for the lengthy post on how this is SO NOT THE BROS' FAULT, DUDE. As for how "the young men of Alpha Sigma Phi," their feelings, and their needs, seriously, stop it. Call me a traditionalist, but I'm going to say that the victim here is the actual dead person and his family, not the 25 brosephs who apparently didn't have the sense to look in every room of the frat house when they coordinated all those searches for him.

Amalie of NY 5:04PM November 25, 2008

I mean no disrespect to the dead. That being said, unless the unoccupied room was a vacuum-sealed bunker or a freezer, after eight days, the body should have been well into the putrefaction stage of decomposition and the smell would have been incredibly foul. Depending on how well the house was insulated, there also probably would have been an increase in insect activity that likely would have overflowed into other rooms of the house. So, yeah, even the dumbest cop on the planet would be asking how 25 guys could have shared a house with a rotting corpse for eight days and not realized it.

Amalie of NY 3:48PM November 25, 2008

He wasn't found in a closet, but an unoccupied room in the house. That is information is purely the result of poor reporting. The house was also searched earlier during the week. Again something that did not come out due to poor reporting.
And the reality of his death is something that has hit everyone associated with him, especially his family and brothers and it is insulting for you to put that word in quotes. People want to just slap stereotypes about fraternities on these young men without knowing anything about them, and it's not fair.
I've thought plenty about the victim and I am sure his brothers will for the rest of their lives. This was not their fault and it is unacceptable to throw inuendo and stereotypes at them as they grieve with his family over the loss of a loved one.

Sean Cassidy of IL 12:49PM November 25, 2008

It still does not look good and the reality of his death and the location of his death are more important then the feelings of the "brothers". I was surprised how commonplace the article made it sound that a body would be stuffed in a closet .. "wink wink... you know frat boys and their antics..." Why would anyone stuff themselves in a closet. Time to think about the vistim.

mdean of CA 9:54AM November 25, 2008

"Police are still trying to determine how the student's body could have gone unnoticed for so long in the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity house, where about 25 people reside." -- I find the suggestion in that sentence that there was somehow negligence on the part of the brotherhood to be distrubing and irresponsible.
Most notably missing is the information that the house was open to be searched by both campus police and Chicago police, and had been searched by campus security on Tuesday and he was not found then.
There is also no mention that the last place Ben was seen was walking towards 31st street beach in Chicago which is where the majority of the search effort (many organized and run by the fraternity) took place.
The young men of Alpha Sigma Phi are distraught and devestated to have lost a friend and a loved one. The last thing they need is the incorrect and unncessary suggestion that they are in some way to blame when they did everything in their power to help the situation and this is clearly an accident.

Sean Cassidy of IL 6:00PM November 24, 2008