Akul Dhawan Obituary – The Champaign County Coroner’s Office has confirmed that the cause of death for Akul Dhawan, an 18-year-old University of Illinois student, was hypothermia. Dhawan’s body was discovered on the university’s campus on the morning of January 20, approximately 10 hours after authorities were notified about his disappearance.
According to a press release from the Champaign County Coroner’s Office, Dhawan’s death was a result of hypothermia, acute alcohol intoxication, and prolonged exposure to extremely cold temperatures. The office has officially ruled his death as accidental.
Previously, the University of Illinois police released a timeline detailing their response to calls regarding Dhawan’s whereabouts on the night he went missing. The timeline revealed gaps in action between the initial call made by Dhawan’s friends and the moment his body was found.
Dhawan was found unresponsive on concrete steps near a campus building in Urbana, specifically in the 1200 block of West Nevada Street. A university employee made the discovery shortly after 11 a.m., nearly 10 hours after Dhawan was reported missing.