Quinn Lucas Schansman was identified by President Obama as an American citizen who was on Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17.
MH17 was downed by a surface-to-air missile on July 17 while traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
The 298 crew and passengers on board the plane did not survive the incident.
In a press conference on Friday, July 18, Obama said that Schansman was the only known American citizen on the plane.
State Department says that Schansman has dual Dutch-U.S. citizenship, but did not provided any more information about him.
According to his Facebook page, Schansman studied at the International Business School at Hogeschool van Amsterdam.
Schansman was born in New York City when his Dutch father was living in the United States, according to his cousin, Rodney Schansman of Georgia.
Rodney Schansman told NBC News that he had not seen Quinn since he was a baby, but was looking forward to a family reunion in Europe.
“Who would ever believe that a disaster that far across the world would affect us here?” he said.
“Our prayers go out to all the families that have lost loved ones in this tragedy.”
Fabienne Schriek, a friend, told NBC that Schansman was “kind,” and that he “stuck up for you and made you laugh when he saw there was something wrong.”
“He was... kind of sensitive and caring. He had a lot of friends and everybody seem[ed] to like him.
“If there was a fight in class he could cool everyone down again, made a joke and it was like it never happened.
“He was really down to earth and just [a] fun guy to have around.”
“We are devastated,” she added.
Here are some photos of Schansman.
