Aravind Elangovan ’17 disappeared from his home in Longmont, Colorado Mar. 31 around 10:30 p.m. His family, who reported him missing, are seeking information on his whereabouts. Elangovan was on a leave of absence from the University and had returned to his home Mar. 10. But on the morning of the day of his disappearance, he said that he wanted to return to campus, according to his parents. Elangovan may be trying to hitchhike to Providence, Darla Elangovan, his sister, wrote in an email to The Herald.
Because of his history of mental illness, police are considering Elongovan “endangered,” according to a missing persons document from the Longmont Police Department posted on a Facebook page created by his family.
Shortly before he disappeared, Elangovan said he was going out for a jog, but when his parents followed him out the door, he quickly ran away from them, his parents told the Longmont Times-Call.
The 19-year old Elangovan is 6’01” and 195 pounds with black hair and brown eyes and was last seen wearing a long black wool coat, a blue long sleeve t-shirt, boxer shorts and no shoes. He does not have his cell phone, wallet or any identification and does not drive a vehicle, according to a missing persons document filed by the Longmont police.
“There’s no way he could’ve gone very far without shoes or pants,” Sharmila Elangovan told the Times-Call.
“He had two large friend groups” at the University, said Catherine Liu ’17, a friend of Elangovan. “I do think, generally, that he seemed to enjoy Brown.”
Liu said that Elangovan has behaved differently this year, but not to the extent of not wearing shoes, Liu said.
Elangovan had acted “a little down” since returning home, but his parents did not expect him to run away, they told the Times-Call.
On Monday night, officials found a body inside a burning building in Longmont, but the person who died was not Elangovan, police told Fox31 Denver.
Elangovan graduated from Niwor High School at age 15 and studies computer science at Brown. He was a co-captain of the E-sports club, competing in League of Legends, according to Liu.
He often frequents parks in northwest Longmont and the Mountain Sanitas trail west of Boulder, the Longmont Police told the Times-Call.
University communication officials said that they are assisting the family with the investigation as it pertains to Brown.
Anyone with information on Elangovan is asked to call Longmont Police at 303-651-8501.
