Police have confirmed that a Texas A&M University student who went missing on the day of his college graduation over a week ago has been found dead.
Tanner Hoang, 22, was found dead in Austin on Saturday, according to ABC News. Earlier this month, Hoang disappeared from the Trails at Wolf Pen apartment complex in College Station.
A mechanical engineering student’s family reported him missing when he failed to attend a celebratory lunch before his graduation ceremony.
Austin Police Department officials told KVUE that a body was discovered near Pennybacker Bridge on Saturday, but they were unable to confirm whether the body belonged to Hoang.
The silver 2009 Lexus of Hoang was found on Friday near the Pennybacker Bridge Overlook Trail and the Colorado River. Following a stop at a Shell station in nearby Caldwell, the motorist was driving westbound on Highway 21.
“He was supposed to graduate but I’m not sure what happened that would cause him to leave,” Bao Hoang, his uncle, told ABC affiliate KXXV, noting that the student’s sudden departure was out of character.
“I think the last thing we know definitively is that he was on [Highway] 21 picking up gas to go in a westerly direction away from Bryan/College Station,” he explained.
On Saturday night, the news that Tanner Hoang had died was confirmed by a Facebook group titled “Finding Tanner Hoang,” which boasted over 14,000 members.
“This afternoon Tanner was found deceased in the vicinity of the Pennybacker Bridge on Loop 360,” wrote Michael C. Miller, the group’s administrator.
Hoang’s death was not the result of foul play, according to Miller.
“Tanner’s family wants everyone to know how much they have appreciated everyone’s help,” he concluded.