ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – The body of 19-year-old Lucas Mattson of Juneau was discovered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Saturday after being missing for more than 15 hours, according to Michigan police.
According to the Ann Arbor Police Department (AAPD), Mattson’s body was discovered around noon on Saturday.
The department had posted to social media on Friday night that Mattson was missing and considered in danger due to frigid conditions.
“If you think about how cold it’s been, that’s a long time and the extreme cold temperatures for somebody not only to be missing, but alone,” said Erika Erickson, a reporter for Detroit news station WDIV.
According to the Ann Arbor police, Mattson was last seen wearing a T-shirt and jeans around 1 a.m. on Friday night after leaving a party at a fraternity house.
Mattson was attending the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he was studying Engineering. He was raised in Juneau, where his family still lives.
University of Michigan student Lucas Mattson, reported as missing and endangered on Friday, has been found dead(Source: Ann Arbor Police Department)
“Our family is devastated by the loss of Lucas. We ask for privacy at this time,” said Jennie Schoeppe, Mattson’s aunt, in a statement to Alaska’s News Source.
Schoeppe started a GoFundMe to support Mattson’s family during this time. As of press time, over $53,000 has been raised.
“Please join me in extending our deepest condolences to Lucas’s family, friends, and all who loved him,” said Michigan president Domenico Grasso in a message to the school.
“The College of Engineering has shared information and offered support to Lucas’s classmates and those who knew him well within the college.”
According to Erickson, messages of support and condolences for Mattson’s friends and family have poured out of Ann Arbor in the days since his body was found.
“We spoke to one neighbor and she was heartbroken,” she said.
“She wishes that he hadn’t been alone, and she urges people to use the buddy system … she was terrified to think of an undergraduate to have been walking alone without a coat, just in a T-shirt, and to have been found like that by himself.”
Students at Michigan have also shared their reactions to Mattson’s death.
“I feel like somebody should have found him like before he passed away,” said Michigan student Genesis Padilla in an interview with WDIV.
“I think the buddy system should’ve definitely been used. I know when I go out me and my roommate always go out together. And I think in that case, I think that would have been better than being found alone.”
Erickson feels that Mattson’s death serves as a reminder to stay safe and aware during frigid conditions.
“Look out for your friends,” she said. “They don’t care if it’s cold out. They don’t care what the circumstances are. They don’t care.
“Look out for each other. That’s the message right now, regardless if it’s a stranger or a friend too.”
