Emergency Info from NU

Colleges & Universities A-Z Northwestern University
1

<p>A Northwestern University sophomore, Harsha Maddula, who lives in Public Affairs Residential College (PARC Hall), 1838 Chicago Avenue, Evanston, has been reported missing. Harsha was last seen on September 22 at approximately 12:30 a.m. leaving a party at 2013 Ridge Ave.</p>

<p>Harsha is described as a male of Indian descent, 18 years old, 5 feet 4 inches tall, 135 pounds, with black hair and wearing black-framed glasses. He was last seen wearing a grey long sleeve sweater with white and black stitching. He was also wearing dark grey pants and brown shoes.</p>

<p>If you have any information on the whereabouts of Harsha Maddula, please contact Northwestern University Police at 847-491-3254.</p>

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<p>Feel terrible for the parents; hope everything turns out to be alright.</p>

2

<p>I am also a NU parent…I am praying really hard for this young man’s safe return and for his family. My heart goes out to his family.</p>

3

<p>According to an article I just saw it sounds like he was recently diagnosed with diabetes so there is concern that his disappearance could be linked to that. I hope this is resolved quickly for the sake of everyone involved, particularly his friends and family. </p>

<p>On a side note, I just Googled “missing college student” and was amazed to see how many schools are currently involved in similar incidents. I assume many of these stories end happily, and really hope this is one of them.</p>

4

<p>He was diagnosed with diabetes in December and took the winter quarter off to learn how to manage it.</p>

5

<p>Here’s a recent story from the campus paper:</p>

<p>[The</a> Daily Northwestern : Search for missing Northwestern student Harsha Maddula intensifies as new details emerge](<a href=“http://dailynorthwestern.com/2012/09/26/campus/search-for-missing-northwestern-student-harsha-maddula-intensifies-as-new-details-emerge/]The”>Search for missing Northwestern student Harsha Maddula intensifies as new details emerge)</p>

6

<p>I just saw on our local news that the divers are searching north of Evanston, where his phone ping was last detected. I am just sick about this. The poor family.</p>

7

<p>My son will be a freshman at NU this fall and he, too, is a type-1 diabetic. In that respect, this news has really hit home. </p>

<p>His parents must be out of their minds with worry. He’s not my child, but I find myself checking the news every hour or so, praying for good news soon!</p>

8

<p>Praying alongside Harsha’s family for his safe return to campus.</p>

9

<p>Very sad that another night may pass with no further news of Harsha’s whereabouts. Count us in the camp of NU parents sending love toward his family and friends in this unimaginably difficult time.</p>

10

<p>As an NU alum and the mother of two college students, this story has really hit home. The interviews with Harsha’s parents will break your heart. My prayers have been with them, and other family/friends, since I first heard Harsha was missing. </p>

<p>Something does not add up in this story. After being with friends, in mere minutes he seemingly vanished into thin air, walking from one location to another. It would seem that some neighbor, friend or fellow party-attendee would have seen or heard something. If so, I am hopeful he/she will come forward soon and tell what they know.</p>

<p>Search parties are combing the area again today. I wish there was something more to be done. I can only imagine how helpless and distraught his family must be feeling as the days pass.</p>

11

<p>Excellent editorial in The Daily Northwestern this morning…</p>

<p>[The</a> Daily Northwestern : The Search for Harsha Maddula: This is not about you](<a href=“http://dailynorthwestern.com/2012/09/27/forum/the-search-for-harsha-maddula-this-is-not-about-you/]The”>http://dailynorthwestern.com/2012/09/27/forum/the-search-for-harsha-maddula-this-is-not-about-you/)</p>

<p>… If you have information that might help us locate the McCormick sophomore — you saw him early Saturday morning, or you heard someone talking about him before his friends lost contact with him — you may be afraid. Maybe you were drinking underage. Maybe you don’t want your name in national news stories. Maybe you worry about being implicated in a terrible situation. But this isn’t about you.</p>

<p>Every minute that Harsha is missing is another one of anguish for his family and friends, many of whom have put their lives on hold to come to Evanston and look for their beloved son, nephew, cousin, friend. It is another minute that a diabetic may not have the medicine he needs to survive. It is another minute that our community remains incomplete.</p>

<p>… snip</p>

<p>What troubles us is that the timeline of Sept. 22 remains unclear — some crucial piece of the puzzle is missing. We join the calls asking students to aid the investigation in any way possible.</p>

12

<p>I don’t think there’s any more info to be had. It seems to me that he might have wandered off while in the beginning stages of a diabetic crisis. I have a friend whose husband is a T1 diabetic and that’s happened to him -he becomes disoriented and wanders around looking for food.</p>

<p>If there were foul play, it would seem odd for a perpetrator to take him to Wilmette Harbor.</p>

13

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<p>I’d assumed that as well, but it seems likely they’d have found him, or traces of where he’d been, by now if that were the case don’t you think? And from what I saw earlier this morning it sounds like they’ve ruled out Wilmette Harbor now? </p>

<p>I hope today sheds more light on what happened and am SO sorry for all who know him!</p>

14

<p>Unless a mugger took his phone and that’s where the Wilmette Harbor signal came from. But I agree, if he had wandered around and collapsed, one would think that between Evanston and Wilmette police, he would have been found. </p>

<p>I have met the parents, and they are good people, and I am sick to my stomach over this. It doesn’t appear that this has anything to do with the university per SE, but still … It’s part of the NU community.</p>

15

<p>My heart is just breaking over this for his family and friends…still praying so hard for a miracle. I have gotten to know that campus and area so well since S has been there - still can’t believe this has happened. So sad…so sad :-(</p>

16

<p>I’m sure the police and FBI are questioning everyone who was with him or talked to him that evening. There are some holes in what has been published, but I’d assume the police have investigated those - such as how he could have called someone and said he was in his dorm room when it appears he wasn’t. I grew up in Evanston and went to NU for grad school… know the area well. I’m just hoping this gets solved and explained no matter what the outcome, although certainly I still hope for the best. I just sent my D off to college for the first time, so I certainly can relate to the nightmare the parents are going through.</p>

17

<p>What we all suspected and feared. Only wish I had something else, anything else, to report. A terrible loss for the entire university community, an unfathomable one for the family.</p>

<p>September 27, 2012</p>

<p>Dear Members of the Northwestern Community:</p>

<p>I am saddened to report that the body of a Northwestern undergraduate student, Harsha Maddula, who has been missing since last Saturday, has been found in Wilmette Harbor.</p>

<p>Harsha was a sophomore in the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science from New Hyde Park, New York. </p>

<p>On behalf of Northwestern University, I extend our deepest sympathies to Harsha’s family and to his many friends at Northwestern. Our thoughts are with them. The loss of one member of the Northwestern community deeply affects us all, and as we start the new academic year, normally a time of joy and optimism, we do so this year with a heavy heart.</p>

<p>I also would like to thank Northwestern University Police and all the other law enforcement agencies and fire departments that were involved in the search for Harsha during the past few days. Their work, along with that of our Student Affairs staff, and the tremendous show of support from our students demonstrates clearly the compassion and commitment of the Northwestern family. </p>

<p>I know that this tragic loss will affect many of us. I urge you to contact Counseling and Psychological Services or the Chaplain’s Office if you feel the need to do so. </p>

<p>Again, we offer our profound sympathy to Harsha’s family and his fellow students. We join them in mourning the loss of a member of our community. </p>

<p>Morton Schapiro
President and Professor</p>

18

<p>Very tragic. My son called me from school about a half hour ago saying that he was watching the live press conference. He was very upset by this although he and his friends understood that there probably wasn’t going to be a good ending to this. I would be surprised if we didn’t find out eventually that his diabetic condition was somehow involved. I just wish that someone had left the party with him…As heartbreaking as this news is for his parents, at least he has been found and they will not have to go through what Lauren Speirer’s parents have had to endure for the past year. Condolences to the Maddula family and the entire Northwestern community.</p>

19

<p>My son was out with the 4pm search today. I was still holding out hope until I saw the press conference. I am completey heartbroken for his family. I can’t even begin to imagine how they feel. I agree that finding him at least gives some closure.</p>

<p>I’ve had a hard time letting my kids go away to school and this is exactly why- always praying that something won’t happen since I could never get there in time to do any good. I’m just so so sorry for his family. I don’t know how all of our NU kids will be able to focus on their classes for the next few weeks as they settle in and figure out how to cope with their emotions over this tragedy.</p>

20

<p>My heart aches for this family and the son they have lost. Such a tragedy. </p>

<p>As a newly diagnosed diabetic, Harsha could have suddenly produced enough insulin to lower his blood sugar to the point where he became disoriented and passed out. (It’s called the honeymoon phase.) Alcohol can also lower blood sugar and could have been a factor. But I don’t understand how he could have wandered off alone without one of his friends noticing. There has to be more to this story.</p>