Local News

Missing Dartmouth grad student found dead in Connecticut River

Kexin Cai, 26, left her home in Lebanon, New Hampshire, on May 15. Five days later, her body was spotted by a fisherman in the Connecticut River.

Kexin Cai. Lebanon NH Police Department via Facebook

By Adora Brown

1 minute to read

Dartmouth College graduate student Kexin Cai was found dead on Monday in the Connecticut River, according to police. The 26-year-old had been missing since the afternoon of Wednesday, May 15.

Cai’s partner told The Dartmouth that Cai admitted herself to Dick’s House on May 13 for a “mental health crisis.” The facility then transferred her to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, which released her on May 15, he said.

Cai left home the afternoon of May 15 on an electric bike. According to Lebanon police, after she was reported missing on Friday, May 17, investigators secured footage from two different businesses showing her riding her bike around 6 p.m. that Wednesday toward West Lebanon.

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On Monday, police received information that Cai’s bike was possibly spotted at the Boston Lot, next to the Wilder Dam on the Connecticut River. Police narrowed their search to the area alongside volunteers, Dartmouth security, K-9 units, N.H. conservation officers, and a helicopter.

Around 4 p.m., police received information from a fisherman of a sighting along the Connecticut River in Windsor, Vermont. Cai’s body was recovered from the area by 5:36 p.m.

According to police, no foul play is suspected.  

Cai, a native of China, was a doctoral student in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, The Dartmouth reported.

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