The search for a missing Dartmouth graduate student came to a tragic end on Monday when she was found dead in the Connecticut River. The deceased, identified as 26-year-old Kexin Cai, had been reported missing last Wednesday after she left her home on an electric bike.
Police began an intensive search for Cai on Friday, following her disappearance, eventually securing surveillance footage from local businesses that showed her heading south on Route 10 toward West Lebanon around 6 p.m. on May 15, as reported by Boston25News. The search included Dartmouth security, volunteers, K-9 units, New Hampshire conservation officers, and a helicopter scouring the area.
According to Boston.com, a fisherman alerted police at about 4 p.m. Monday of a sighting along the river in Windsor, Vermont. Emergency services responded, and Cai’s body was retrieved by 5:36 p.m. Police have stated that preliminary investigations suggest no foul play in her death.
Cai, a native of China, was a doctoral student in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, specializing in the dynamics of social communication. She was described as "an exceptionally gifted and humble researcher with a genuinely sweet personality," in a statement by Jon Kull, dean of the Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies, obtained by The Boston Globe. Kull also noted her love for cats, saying she "would sneak images of them into every poster or presentation."
The Dartmouth community has been notified of Cai's demise, and the investigation into her death continues. Further details regarding the circumstances of her passing have yet to be disclosed.
