Autopsy results released Friday showed a Northwestern University student found in a suburban Chicago harbor drowned, but the medical examiner could not determine whether the death was accidental.
A fisherman found the body of 18-year-old Harsha Maddula on Thursday night in Wilmette Harbor, a few miles north of Evanston, six days after he disappeared after leaving an off-campus party. U.S. Coast Guard and Wilmette firefighters recovered the body.
The Cook County Medical Examiner's office said the manner of his death was undetermined because there was not enough information to rule it an accident, a homicide or a suicide.
But Wilmette police said there was no trauma to Maddula's body, no signs of a struggle and nothing to indicate foul play. Searchers looked for Maddula on foot, with boats, a helicopter, sonar, dogs and divers, Wilmette police said.
Earlier Friday, his family said they were seeking more answers about his disappearance and death.
Maddula was a sophomore from New Hyde Park, N.Y., at Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science. He left a party shortly after midnight Friday and disappeared, setting off days of searching by police and fellow students.
Investigators are still trying to determine why he ended up two miles north of the party and whether he was alone or had left the party with friends.
