Student Was Taken to Spot Where Body Was Found: Lawyer

Reward brings information in about freshman's death
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 28, 2019 2:20 PM CST
Reward Draws Information About Freshman's Death
Antonio Tsialas   (Cornell University Police Department)

Private investigators hired by parents trying to understand the death of their 18-year-old son are concentrating on the fraternity party he attended on his last night. A lawyer for the parents said a $10,000 reward has brought in new information, USA Today reports. The body of Antonio Tsialas, a freshman at Cornell University in New York, was found in a gorge in Ithaca in October. "The people who knew him best at Cornell have told us unequivocally that there is no possibility that he would have even known how to get to this place, or gone there on his own," the lawyer said. Students who were at the party, where some drank until they were blackout drunk, have said Tsialas went to the remote area with at least one other person, he said.

Suicides have been committed at the gorge, but the family lawyer insisted Tsialas didn't kill himself. He'd had dinner with his mother that night, and both appear happy in the photos. "He was in a very good state of mind, and he was doing well," John Tsialas, the student's father, told USA Today. "This is just so confusing to us; there’s more to it than meets the eye." Campus police said they didn't suspect foul play, but have issued no updates on their investigation. Cornell fraternities have voluntarily suspended social activities. "While there are many important benefits to Greek Life at Cornell," the university president said, "there is also a continuing and disturbing pattern of activity that violates our policies and threatens the health and safety of our students." The Tsialases' lawyer said, "A lot of alcohol was served that night to the freshmen." (Nine people have been charged in a death and hazing investigation in Ohio.)

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