A body found in Portland, Oregon, is believed to be Owen Klinger, a University of Portland student who went missing on Oct. 6, his family said, according to local reports.
“Portland police have notified us that they have recovered a body that we believe is our son, Owen Klinger,” parents of the 18-year-old, Mary and Dustin Klinger, said in a statement to KOIN.
“We deeply appreciate the extraordinary effort and support that thousands of people have provided over the past two weeks. We now ask for privacy as we move forward with our healing process.”
The river patrol recovered the body and turned it over to the Multnomah County Medical Examiner.
Further details about the body are not known, and police have not indicated whether Klinger’s death—if the body is confirmed to be his—may be suspicious.
President of the University of Portland, Rev. Mark L. Poorman, posted a 10-part statement via the university’s Twitter account. In part, the statement reads:
“I write with deep sadness regarding missing first-year student Owen Klinger. Based upon conversations with a family representative and law enforcement, the University joins the Klinger family in their belief that Owen, their son and our community member, has died.
“An official statement from the Multnomah County Medical Examiner’s Office confirming Owen’s death is forthcoming. Owen’s family has requested privacy at this time. There can be no greater sadness in the life of a university than the loss of one of its members,” he added.
The reverend said that Klinger was “[k]ind, generous, and loyal, he was a person who lived for others. He gave deeply of himself. He loved earnestly.”
Klinger was last seen on campus leaving Christie Hall on Oct. 6, according to KPTV.
The student instead went to a campus ATM and withdrew cash amounting to $150, and his phone was turned off around that time, reported KPTV. He left campus around 7.50 p.m. that night.
Klinger’s friends and family, as well as other volunteers, had been searching for him in the area around the campus with no luck.
