Body of MIT Junior Found

A dead body found in the Charles River Saturday was identified as missing MIT student Daniel S. Mun, school officials said yesterday.

Investigators have ruled the death a suicide, according to the Associated Press, but MIT spokesperson Arthur L. Jones said last night he would not speculate about the cause of death.

Suffolk County authorities informed MIT yesterday that they had confirmed the body as Mun’s using dental records, Jones said.

Mun, a biology major from Kirksville, Mo. known to friends as “Dong,” was last seen on the morning of Dec. 5 at the Chi Phi fraternity house in Back Bay.

The Boston Fire Department retrieved the body after it was discovered by a passersby Saturday afternoon beneath the Mass. Ave. Bridge. The body was fully clothed and wearing roller skates.

Jones said that all indications strongly pointed to the body being Mun’s even before yesterday’s confirmation.

“The horrible uncertainty that we have all felt regarding Daniel Mun has ended with the outcome we most feared,” MIT President Charles M. Vest said in a statement released Monday.

“I join his family and friends in mourning the loss of this fine young man,” Vest said. “I encourage any among us who feel the need for advice and comfort to contact MIT Medical, or talk with counseling deans or [residence hall officials].”

A memorial service for Mun will be held tonight at 8 p.m. in the MIT Chapel, according to Elizabeth A. Thomson, a spokesperson for the school.

Jones said that members of Mun’s Chi Phi fraternity are organizing tonight’s service along with Senior Assistant Dean Robert M. Randolph.

Randolph met with Mun’s parents yesterday afternoon, Jones said.

Mun’s younger brother Thomas, a student at Gallaudet University in Washington D.C., has also arrived in Cambridge, Jones said.

“We’re all grieving at the loss of our brother,” said Tom Holtey, a 1962 graduate of MIT and the treasurer of the Chi Phi alumni corporation.

—Staff writer Daniel J. Hemel can be reached at hemel@fas.harvard.edu.