American student's body found in Tiber

(ANSA) - Rome, July 4 - 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