Coralville police confirmed Thursday that the body found last week along the Cedar River is UI student Jacques Similhomme.
He was last seen on Sept. 28, after making threats to himself while talking to his girlfriend.
Two weeks later, a rescue team found Similhomme’s body on the Cedar River. Coralville Police Chief Barry Bedford said the state Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed the cause of death was fresh-water drowning. Bedford said officials do not suspect foul play.
UI students were never notified of Similhomme’s disappearance. University officials said that’s because they strive to exhaust all other measures of investigation before reaching out to the community for help.
“[When a student is reported missing], things can be complicated because students are independent adults,” said Charles Green, the assistant vice president for the UI police.
UI officials were not directly involved in Similhomme’s case, though they were notified, he said.
When students are reported missing, it’s often because they haven’t maintained contact with friends or family, not a disappearance, Green said.
“If we know or feel something is wrong, we then contact other departments,” he said.
Annually, roughly a dozen UI students are reported missing, said Tom Rocklin, the UI interim vice president for Student Services. He couldn’t think of a recent instance when a student wasn’t found.
If the student is a dorm resident, officials communicate with University Housing to check if anyone has seen or heard from the student, Green said. If not, the police contact Student Services.
“We’re responsible for interacting with the campus to gather information,” Rocklin said.
Student Services officials go through a number of procedures, including checking class attendance and contacting faculty members, advisers, and friends of the student.
Rocklin said it would be rare to contact the entire university community.
“I don’t see the purpose in notifying 45,000 people,” he said. “Most would not know anything about the student and wouldn’t be in a position to help. We only talk to people with possible knowledge.”
Green said there could be a time when the community would be notified, but only after officials have done all they can to locate the missing person.
Robert Bowers, an associate director of Public Safety at Iowa State University, said the school has similar policies.
“We wouldn’t notify the university community immediately,” he said. “Often, the student is just on vacation or something like that.”
But universities’ policies to not immediately notify the campus is unnerving to some UI students.
“I think we should know when a student goes missing,” said UI freshman Constance Riggins. “Especially in this town, people have the chance of going missing if they’re not taking care of themselves.”