ANN ARBOR, Mich. (WXYZ) — Students at the University of Michigan are mourning the death of 19-year-old Lucas Mattson. His body was found on Cambridge Road near Washtenaw Avenue in the freezing temperatures on Saturday.
"It’s undeniably a tragedy," sophomore Blake Becker said.
Watch Darren Cunningham's video report below:
Sophomore Riley Maczik told 7 News Detroit, “I was really upset about it. A lot of my friends were at the same venue that Lucas was at, so it’s really sad to see that that could literally happen to anybody. It doesn’t matter who you are (or) where you’re at.”
Sophomore Matthew Like said, “We have sense of community, even with people you don’t know at the university. So to see anyone, even if you don’t know them personally from your community pass like that, it’s tragic.”
Ann Arbor police said Mattson was last seen walking on Hill Street around 1 a.m. on Friday after leaving a party at Delta Chi fraternity. According to investigators, he didn’t have on a coat in the frigid temperatures and wasn't reported missing until about 15 hours later.
The search began and Mattson’s body was found at 12:05 p.m. on Saturday on Cambridge. He was located around the corner from Delta Chi.
Police said it appears he died of exposure to the frigid temperatures, but they’re working to learn an exact cause of death. An autopsy was scheduled to take place Monday.
“It’s just really heartbreaking,” Maczik said.
The University of Michigan said Mattson was not a member of Delta Chi nor was he a pledge of the fraternity, but he was a guest at the party.
In that same letter to the campus community, university President Domenico Grasso said: “We must let the investigators complete their work and refrain from speculation until the facts are known.”
He went on to say he’s instructed the “vice president for student life and executive director of public safety and security to retrace the events that occurred this weekend. We want to better understand what transpired and identify possible steps to help prevent similar tragedies in the future.”
Maczik said, “We always need to hold each other accountable. Make sure you never leave anywhere alone. Like it’s unsafe no matter where you’re at and just make sure you’re always there for your friends and talk to somebody when they need anything.”
The university has counselors on hand for anyone who needs support.
7 News Detroit spoke with Mattson’s grandmother who was too distraught to do an interview. We learned he was an engineering student from Alaska.
