Rotting Corpse Found In Swimming Pool Is Probably Missing Student

[bloodrayne]

Body Found In Pool May Be Lost Student

Police contact family of missing college student; no official ID yet

Iowa - Grinnell police said Monday they could not immediately determine whether a body found in a country club swimming pool was missing Grinnell College student Paul Shuman-Moore.

Police Chief Jody Matherly said the body was found about 11 a.m. when a Grinnell Golf and Country Club employee pulled off the pool's winter cover to begin readying the pool for the summer. The cover is being examined for any rips or tears.

"All I can tell you really is that a body was found, and we are conducting an investigation," Matherly said.

Matherly said the pool was not drained of its water during the winter. He said that based on the condition of the remains, "it was quite apparent the body had been there for some time, at least weeks, if not months."

Hugh German, who lives near the golf course, said he saw an L-shaped rip in the tarp covering the pool.

"I would guess it was a foot, foot and a half each way," said German, who arrived at the golf course before police blocked off the area.

Shuman-Moore, 19, of Chicago was last seen about 1:20 a.m. Sept. 25 when he was en route to his room in Lazier Hall on the Grinnell College campus.

His roommate, Mike Horrell, said Shuman-Moore left a one-page suicide note in his dormitory room.

Police confirmed at the time that Shuman-Moore was despondent shortly before he disappeared.

Hundreds of volunteers combed the area around Grinnell in the days and weeks after his disappearance.

When asked if the search last fall included the grounds of the Grinnell Country Club, Matherly, the police chief, said, "Obviously that's something we want to go back and review."

Matherly said Shuman-Moore is the only person listed as missing in Poweshiek County.

Matherly and Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Agent Wade Kisner said they were unable to immediately determine the body's age or gender or give a description of any clothing.

The body was taken to the state medical examiner's lab in Ankeny, where an autopsy is scheduled for today.

"We hope to know more in the next few days," Matherly said.

A handful of Grinnell College's 1,500 students attended Matherly's news briefing Monday afternoon.

Sophomore Julie Bir of Colorado said there were "suspicions" on campus that the body was that of their fellow student.

Bir said she attended "to hear what's going on."

Matherly said Shuman-Moore's parents were alerted about the discovery of the body.

"Things aren't OK here," Shuman-Moore's father, Steve Moore, said in a telephone interview Monday afternoon. "The police just told us what they found, and they are investigating. We have been told to sit tight."

Shuman-Moore's disappearance has confounded his fellow students and his family for months.

His family conducted a nationwide e-mail campaign and sent posters to music clubs and coffee shops in California, Seattle and Colorado.

Relatives were clinging to the hope that Shuman-Moore was alive and had simply dropped out of sight because of the stresses of college life.

His father said the young man was passionate about music and enjoyed attending concerts. His 20th birthday is on May 4.

[Shazbut]

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Missing student's body found in pool
Chicago teen last seen in September

By Emma Graves Fitzsimmons
Chicago Tribune staff reporter
Published April 18, 2007
The body of a college student from Chicago was found on Monday in a country club swimming pool less than a mile from Grinnell College, where the 19-year-old disappeared more than six months ago, officials said on Tuesday.

Paul Shuman-Moore was last seen in the central Iowa campus on Sept. 25. His body was found Monday morning at the Grinnell Golf and Country Club when an employee removed the pool's cover for the first time since the winter, Grinnell Police Chief Jody Matherly said.

Police said the body appeared to have been there for possibly weeks or months. There was no evidence of foul play, police said.

Officials were not releasing the cause of his death Tuesday, but a news conference was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon in Des Moines to discuss the results of an autopsy by the state medical examiner's office.

Shuman-Moore left behind a suicide letter, which has been part of the investigation, Matherly said. Shuman-Moore had been in his second year at the college.

In the days after his disappearance, authorities and hundreds of volunteers combed the area around the school, searching for him.

His parents created a Web site urging their son to "please come home" and posted news articles, videos and fliers. The site features photos of the Northside College Prep High School graduate playing the guitar and described him as a good student who had been looking forward to starting an experimental jazz show on his college radio station.

"For the past six months, we have hoped and prayed that our dear son Paul was alive," his parents, Steve Moore and Betsy Shuman-Moore, said in a statement. "Now that he has been found, we are devastated."

The news also shook the students at Grinnell College, a liberal arts college on a rural 120-acre campus with about 1,500 students. The school held a community discussion on campus Tuesday night with county mental health officials, school officials said.

"The Grinnell College community is deeply saddened by the loss of Paul," said Tom Crady, vice president for student services. "We mourn for Paul's family and friends, we mourn for our campus community and we mourn for a world that has lost a talented young man full of potential."