WWU Campus Advisory: Police seek public’s help to identify body found on WWU campus

Western Washington University Police are seeking the public’s help in identifying the man whose body was found at about 1:58 p.m. on March 5, 2020 in a wooded area north of the Buchanan Towers North Residence Hall on Western’s main campus in Bellingham.

The deceased, pictured in this artist's sketch, is described as a caucasian male in his 20s, and 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighing 190 pounds with brown eyes and black hair. It is estimated that he was deceased for 24-48 hours before he was found.

The Whatcom County Medical Examiner has determined the cause of death to be a suicide. University officials do not believe the deceased was a current Western student. The deceased had no identification on him when his body was found and fingerprints have not turned up a match in police databases.

If you have any information, please call the Western Washington University Police at 360-650-3555, reference case # 20-0148.

There are resources available for WWU students, faculty and staff in the wake of incidents such as these:

• Western's Counseling Center can be reach at 360-650-3164 Monday through Friday  9 a.m. to 4 p.m. If you reach the center during daytime hours and need to speak with a counselor, a phone consultation can be arranged.  If a student is in crisis and in need of support when it is closed, they may call 360-650-3164 and press "1" to reach after-hours services. 
• The Washington State Employee Assistance Program is a resource available for faculty and staff. EAP counselors are available for in-person or phone appointments. The EAP office can be reached by calling 877-313-4455 (toll free). The toll-free after-hours help line is 866-704-6364. TDD/TYY users, please call via WA Relay at 711.

Messages from the Western Alert emergency communications system come in three warning levels, plus weather advisories:

• Western Alerts are sent when an imminent threat to the health and safety of campus exists. These alerts are always sent via both text and e-mail and may include other notification methodologies, depending on the severity of the incident. The texts will almost always point you to your WWU email for more information. These messages may incorporate follow-up information as it becomes available.
• WWU Crime Notices at Western shall be distributed to students and employees for any of the 15 Clery Act crimes that pose a serious or continuing threat to the Western community.
• WWU Campus Advisories are sent out for situations when there is not an imminent threat but a situation of concern.
• Western Weather Advisories are sent to campus when inclement weather such as snow has occurred, and the campus community may need to adjust their schedules due to closures or delays, or when the university is operating on a normal schedule but more time may be needed to get to campus. Weather notification is also posted on the WWU home page, the WWU Inclement Weather page at http://em.wwu.edu/inclement.html, and by calling Western’s Storm Hotline at (360) 650-6500. See the Inclement Weather page for more information about policies and procedures regarding how the campus reacts when bad weather arrives.