Authorities believe body found at Purdue is missing student

WEST LAFAYETTE – Authorities believe that the man found dead behind a Purdue University residence hall was a student who apparently jumped from one of the building’s upper floors.

Tippecanoe County Coroner Donna Avolt said Wednesday that the man died from multiple blunt force injuries caused by a “high velocity impact.”

Purdue said officials were checking the fingerprints of the deceased man with those of a student believed to be missing in an effort to confirm
his identity.

A service worker discovered the body at about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday near the loading dock of Hawkins Hall on the West Lafayette campus.

Hawkins Hall houses graduate students and undergraduate students who are at least 20 years old.