On the cold early morning of January 20, 2024, Akul Dhawan, an 18-year-old Indian-American undergraduate at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, was discovered unresponsive on the icy steps of a university building. The night had started with a party but concluded tragically.
The Champaign County Coroner’s Office in Illinois determined that Dhawan succumbed to hypothermia. His demise was notably influenced by acute alcohol intoxication and extended exposure to freezing temperatures.
Dawan, a robotics engineering student, braved the subzero Fahrenheit temperatures on the fateful night. His circumstances worsened after being turned away from a local nightclub.
Despite offers from friends to drive him home, Dhawan declined and was later reported missing. A friend contacted law enforcement at 1:23 a.m., and even though a comprehensive search was organized, his body was found 10 hours later by a passerby, merely 500 feet from his last known location, on the university building’s steps.
Dhawan’s incident has sparked a debate concerning the obligations of university police and the steps taken to find missing students, particularly in harsh weather conditions.
Dhawan’s father criticized the university police for their perceived lack of effort in the search for his son after he went missing. “We are heartbroken for the Dhawan family,” a University of Illinois police representative stated, underlining the ongoing investigation into his death.
Remembering Dhawan, his parents recalled a joyful individual who loved engineering and Legos. Despite their concerns about his studying far from their California home, they supported his ambition to pursue a career in robotics engineering.
The family is now seeking answers and accountability following the tragic event, filing a complaint against the university police department for alleged negligence in their search efforts.
Rishab Mehandru, Dhawan’s uncle, expressed the family’s intention to scrutinize the University of Illinois’ search protocols, aiming to expose any procedural shortcomings to prevent similar future distress for other families.
In response to Dhawan’s death, the community held a vigil attended by friends, family, and university staff, underscoring the profound impact of his untimely death on all who knew him.