Akul Dhawan froze to death near club that denied him entry

Indian American student Akul Dhawan, who was found dead last month after going missing for several hours, froze to death near a club that denied him entry during a night out with friends, according to a media report.

Dhawan, 18, a freshman at the University of Illinois, in Urbana, about 135 miles southwest of Chicago, died due to hypothermia, the Champaign County Coroner’s Office said in a Feb 20 news release.

The announcement comes about a month after Dhawan was found dead by a university employee on the morning of Jan 20, according to the campus police department.

Dhawan had been out drinking with friends overnight, the Kansas City Star reported citing police, but the evening took a turn at about 11:30 pm. Dhawan’s friends went into the Canopy Club — a venue close to campus, which the group had already visited that night — but staff wouldn’t let him in, according to police.

RELATED: Akul Dhawan’s family accuses Illinois University police of negligence (January 26, 2024)

Surveillance video shows he tried to reenter the Canopy Club “multiple times, but was repeatedly denied by staff,” investigators cited by the Star said. He also turned down two rideshare vehicles called for him.

Temperatures dropped to 27 degrees Fahrenheit that night, according to Weather.com. Calls made to Dhawan throughout the night went unanswered, and a concerned friend contacted campus police to search for him, according to officials cited by the Star.

According to police, an officer looked for Dhawan by driving “at a walking pace” near the “likely path” he would have taken back to campus but did not see him.

Officers also placed calls to people who knew Dhawan and to area hospitals, police said, but it would be hours before he was found — at about 11 am. — “laying on concrete steps” behind a building.

He was pronounced dead at the scene, the coroner’s office said, adding “acute alcohol intoxication and prolonged exposure to extremely cold temperatures, significantly contributed to his death.”

It’s a four-minute walk from the Canopy Club to where Dhawan was found, according to Google Maps. Despite statement from officials, Dhawan’s parents “believe that the police never searched for our son,” Ish and Ritu Dhawan wrote in an open letter published in The News-Gazette.

READ: Tragic deaths of Indian-origin students in the US raise alarms over safety (February 15, 2024)

“We have been asking why Akul was found 10 hours later, rather than immediately after he was reported missing, when he could still be saved,” they wrote. “The locations where he was reported missing and where he was found are less than 200 feet apart. 200 feet!”

In an email to McClatchy News, a campus police spokesperson said “the safety of all of our students and community members is of the highest priority. When we are called to check the welfare of a student, officers and non-sworn staff respond as quickly as possible, and their actions are based on information offered either by the caller or discovered during the immediate response.”

“The university community and police department are heartbroken as a result of this tragedy, though we certainly acknowledge that the depth of our grief cannot compare with that of the Dhawan family. Our thoughts remain with them,” the spokesperson said.

It was Dhawan’s first week back at college following winter break, his family said. “We were so proud of our son for completing his semester and thriving at the university. He was a very smart kid who had his whole life before him,” the letter said.

RELATED: Parents demand answers over Indian student’s death in Illinois (January 25, 2024)

“As a parent, I never thought I’d receive such news. We are completely devastated. We have a big massive hole left in our family; we will never be the same. Nothing can bring him back.”

The UI police department shared investigation timelines and reported that “at 1:25 am, the METCAD telecommunicator adds notations to the dispatch ticket that the friend reported he last saw Mr. Dhawan at Busey-Evans Residence Hall and cannot find him.”

“We believe that no search was carried out near the Busey-Evans Residence Hall. University police did not follow their missing search protocols. Akul was found less than 200 feet from the Busey-Evans Residence Halls.

READ: Lovely Varughese returns to SIU on son Pravin’s 10th death anniversary to distribute memorial scholarship (February 17, 2024)

“As parents, we need answers,” Dhawans wrote saying they have filed an official complaint with the UI police.