The cellphone of a missing Ivy League student pinged near an off-campus housing complex two days after she disappeared, prompting authorities to search the area multiple times, the Sun reports.
Princeton University junior Misrach Ewunetie, 20, was last seen around 3 a.m. Friday near her dorm at Scully Hall on campus.
Investigators have learned that Misrach had been sharing her phone’s location with a family member and that her phone appeared to ping near the Penns Neck community, about a mile southeast of campus, at 3:27 a.m. Sunday.
“That’s the last place her phone pinged,” Misrach’s brother, Universe Ewunetie, 30, told the newspaper. “It’s very unlike her to turn off her phone. Kids these days don’t turn off their phones, they love their phones.”
Based on the ping, police traced the likely location of the phone to an area by a housing complex and reportedly searched the vicinity three times, including with a canine unit.
Universe told the newspaper he joined authorities on the most recent search but it spanned only 30 minutes.
“It was not enough time because the back area was wooded and full of ground vines and shrubs,” Universe told the Sun.
Officers could not go inside homes without a warrant, but they did talk with some people who lived in the area, according to the newspaper.
Universe told the Sun that his sister missed an important meeting the day after she went missing.
The woman’s parents, who live in Ohio, are said to be so distraught they cannot sleep or eat.
“She is the gem of the house, their only daughter and the youngest,” Universe told the Sun. “She is very loved.”
He added that the situation is “a nightmare that I cannot wake up from,” according to the Sun, describing his sister as “a very principled, smart girl” and a “loving and caring person, beautiful inside and out.”
Misrach is 5-foot-4 and about 130 pounds with light brown skin, brown eyes, and black hair. She was valedictorian of her high school class and earned a full scholarship to Princeton.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast. Listen to a related episode below.
[Feature Photo: Misrach Ewunetie/Police Handout]
