Thread: Student wrongly tied to Boston bombings found dead

Student wrongly tied to Boston bombings found dead

Doug Stanglin, USA TODAY12:11 p.m. EDT April 25, 2013

Reddit apologized for the 'dangerous speculation' on the site that pointed fingers at the student.


Sunil Tripathi(Photo: AP)


A body pulled from the water off Indian Point Park in Rhode Island has been identified as the Brown University student mistakenly linked by amateur sleuths on a social media site to the Boston bombings.
Health Department spokeswoman Dara Chadwick said Thursday that the body of Sunil Tripathi was identified through dental records.
It was not immediately clear when Tripathi, who was last seen March 15, died. The cause of death has also not been determined.
Tripathi's body was found Tuesday by members of the Brown University crew team.
The Pennsylvania native was on leave from the Ivy League school but was living in an apartment near campus in Providence, R.I., with several other students.
After the April 15 bombings of the Boston Marathon, crowdsourcing groups drawing upon photos released by the FBI of a suspect erroneously reported via Reddit, a social news website, that the person in a baseball cap strongly resembled the missing student.
At one point, Tripathi's name landed on the Twitter top trends list.
"The last eighteen hours have generated tremendous and painful attention -- on social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit, as well as from television media inquiries -- linking Sunil to the video stills released by the FBI yesterday afternoon," said Akhil Tripathi, Sunil's father, in a family statement last week, WPVI-TV reported.
"Unequivocally, we have known that neither individual suspected as responsible for the incident in Boston was Sunil," the statement said.
On Monday, Reddit general manager Erik Martin apologized for the "dangerous speculation" that "spiraled into very negative consequences for innocent parties."
In a blog post, he specifically apologized to the Tripathi family "for the pain they have had to endure."
"The Reddit staff and the millions of people on Reddit around the world deeply regret that this happened," he said.
"We all need to look at what happened and make sure that in the future we do everything we can to help and not hinder crisis situations," Martin added.
Martin's post was written before the student's body was found.
　
　
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/04/25/boston-bombing-social-media-student-brown-university-reddit/2112309/

RELATED http://www.alipac.us/f9/after-bombin...nforms-276919/

FAKE info posted on the internet can destroy lives.

Body Found in Water That of Missing Brown Student


Body Pulled From River May Be Missing Ivy League Student
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By ERIKA NIEDOWSKI Associated Press
PROVIDENCE, R.I. April 25, 2013 (AP)

A body pulled from waters off a Providence park was that of a 22-year-old Brown University student missing since last month, the Rhode Island medical examiner's office said Thursday.
Sunil Tripathi was identified through a forensic dental exam, but a cause of death has not been determined, said Dara Chadwick, a spokeswoman for the state health department.
Tripathi's family, of Bryn Mawr, Pa., said it was overcome with grief but grateful for the outpouring of support relatives got over the last month.
"As we carry indescribable grief, we also feel incredible gratitude," the Tripathi family said in a statement on a Facebook page set up to help find Tripathi, who went by Sunny. "To each one of you — from our hometown to many distant lands — we extend our thanks for the words of encouragement, for your thoughts, for your hands, for your prayers, and for the love you have so generously shared."
Tripathi's body was found Tuesday by members of the Brown crew team off of India Point Park and was brought to shore by its coach, Providence Police Cmdr. Thomas Oates said. He said the body had been in the water for "some time."


Sunil Tripathi: New Video in Missing Ivy League Student Case Watch Video


Tripathi's family had been searching for him since mid-March with help from the FBI and fellow Brown students. His sister, Sangeeta, said he left his phone, wallet and other belongings in his apartment near campus and simply disappeared. He was on leave from the Ivy League school, where he was studying philosophy, and had been going through a difficult time, she said.
Last week, speculation swirled on Twitter and the website Reddit that Tripathi was the second of two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings because some thought he resembled one of the people in photos released by the FBI. That person turned out to be 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, authorities said.
Reddit later apologized to Tripathi's family for fueling "online witch hunts and dangerous speculation which spiraled into very negative consequences for innocent parties."
Tripathi's family said in its statement Thursday that the last month "has changed our lives forever, and we hope it will change yours too."
The family went on: "Take care of one another. Be gentle, be compassionate. Be open to letting someone in when it is you who is faltering. Lend your hand. We need it. The world needs it."
Brown President Christina H. Paxson sent a message to the campus community Thursday, saying Tripathi — the brother of two Brown graduates— would be remembered for his "gentle demeanor and generous spirit." She described him as an accomplished saxophonist and a "serious, thoughtful, intellectually curious student and a brilliant writer."
　
　
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/body-found-water-missing-brown-student-19040457#.UXldqJjn9jo