A 19-year-old UC Berkeley student who disappeared after attending a party at a USC fraternity was found dead about one mile from the campus, an uncle told a Northern California television station today.
Eloi Vasquez, a Berkeley resident and UC Berkeley soccer player, disappeared about 1:30 a.m. Saturday, telling friends he was taking a walk and wanted to go to the beach. His uncle told KTVU in Northern California that Vasquez was apparently struck by a car, and he was found on a freeway on-ramp.
The family was informed at about 11 a.m., the station reported.
Vasquez’s family had been offering a $100,000 reward for information that helps find the missing athlete.
Police said he attended a party in the 600 block of West 28th Street after traveling with friends from Northern California for spring break.
One of his friends told NBC4 that Vasquez called her around 2:15 a.m., and Vasquez said he was lost and scared.
Members of his family, including his mother, Wendy Margolin, drove to Los Angeles Sunday to meet with police and take part in the search.
“It’s very out of the ordinary, he’s a top athlete, a soccer player at Cal,” Margolin told ABC7. “He’s very responsible, it’s very unusual. That’s why we drove all the way here. We’re really scared. I just want to find him and know where he is.”
His mother said the young man does not have any money or ID on him.
The UC Berkeley athletics department issued a statement calling Vasquez “a wonderful young man who has excelled both academically and athletically here at Cal. Our entire Cal athletics family is very concerned for Eloi’s safety and our first priority is to help in any way we can to locate him.”
