On Sunday afternoon, the search for missing first-year, Jigme Nidup, ended. His body was recovered from the Conodoguinet creek, where he was reported missing after swimming on Saturday afternoon.

According to the autopsy report released by Cumberland County Coroner Charley Hall on Tuesday, Sept. 22, Nidup’s cause of death was fresh water drowning. His death was accidental, Hall said.

Nidup was last seen swimming in the North Middleton Township creek with his friends when he was reported missing, according to an e-mail sent out by Dickinson College President Nancy Roseman.

A statement from Roseman said that Nidup was a first-year student from Bhutan in South Asia. In an e-mail telling the college of his death, Roseman said Nidup was “a soft-spoken and considerate young man” who was “always eager to share.”

ABC News reported that Nidup was not a strong swimmer who had just recently learned how to swim. While swimming in the creek, he went under and never resurfaced, Hall said in a news release. A group of Nidup’s friends told police that they were trying to swim to an island around 150 feet out from the shore, according to abc27 new.

Chief Doug Reitz of the North Middleton Township Police Department explained to reporters how a group of nearby kayakers had tried to save him with no success. Reitz said that, “the problem is you can see what’s on top, but you can’t see underneath that water.” He said that after the failed attempts to rescue him, a 911 call was placed. Fire & Rescue and Police showed up at the scene. His body was recovered on Sunday after the rescue team suspended their search on Saturday night.

Reitz said that the area where Nidup was found was the same area where a woman almost drowned a week earlier.

On Sunday night, hundreds of faculty, staff and students gathered at the HUB social to mourn Nidup’s death and pay their respects. Details for a college memorial service are still in the works, said Roseman.

In Memory of Jigme Nidup ’19

“Jigme Nidup was a young man who came to Dickinson College full of the hopes and dreams of his family. Having had the honor of being with his mother, father, sister and uncle as well as a host of other family supporters and friends, I know this was a young man who was well loved by many. His death will leave an unfillable space in our community. We must keep thinking about his family as they continue the very hard process of incorporating this tremendous loss into their lives.”

– Joyce Bylander, VP for Student Life

“It’s hard to put into words the complex array of emotions I have right now. I knew Jigme not only as a fellow Dickinsonian, but as one of the kindest and best residents an RA could ever hope to have. You are an inspiration to so many people across campus, myself included. My heart goes out to Jigme’s family, his friends, and to the Dickinson community. Rest in peace, Jigme. Jigme always carried himself with this positive, contagious energy. He had the ability to make you smile, even after a long and tiring day.”

– Tyler Hanson ’16, Baird Third Floor RA