A body found in the Tiber Monday is
that of an American student who has been missing in Rome since
Thursday night-Friday morning, police said Monday, adding they
believed he had been murdered.
University of Wisconsin student Beau Solomon, 19, who came
to Rome to do a five-week course at John Cabot University, was
dumped into the river and probably suffered a fatal head wound
on his way down into the river, the police said after two
witnesses came came forward and the murder probe was opened.
The body, which had a deep wound to the head, is set to be
identified by Solomon's parents later Monday.
The body was found without a wallet or cellphone, leading
police to believe Solomon was robbed before being thrown into
the river.
Solomon was last seen at about 1 a.m. local time at a bar in
Piazza Trilussa, in Rome's popular Trastevere neighbourhood, on
July 1.
The police and the family have reportedly said Solomon's
credit cards were used since he disappeared.
Solomon, described as a "sociable and sporty" young man, had
defeated a rare cancer of the eye as a boy.
After Solomon's body was found in the river, John Cabot
issued a statement saying:
"We express our most heartfelt condolences to the Solomon
family and to all those who loved Beau".
After the disappearance, Solomon's parents called their
son's credit card company and "realized thousands of dollars had
been charged" in Milan to his account, his brother, Jake
Solomon, said.
The sophomore was last seen around 1 a.m. on Friday while at
a pub in Rome, and his roommate became "worried when he did not
see Beau at orientation that morning," John Cabot University
said in a statement issued Sunday.
"John Cabot University also informed the American Embassy
and the student's home school, which notified the family," the
statement added.
Solomon's parents arrived in Italy Monday, Jake Solomon
said.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison's dean of students, Lori
Berquam, said the school had been working with Italian and
American authorities to locate Solomon. "We ask all Badgers to
keep Beau and his family in their thoughts and prayers," Berquam
said in a statement Sunday.
Solomon's disappearance was reported to Italian authorities
by college officials at 9 p.m. local time on Friday, a spokesman
for the police told NBC News.
"In our family, he is the one who does it all right. He's an
incredible athlete. He is the one that keeps us all together,"
Jake Solomon told NBC News before his brother was confirmed
dead.
"He was driven, career oriented," he said, adding that his
brother is a cancer survivor.
Abby Korenchan, 19, who graduated high school with Solomon said
the news of
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