19-year-old student missing (Minnesota State-Moorhead)
 

A Minnesota State-Moorhead student is missing; he was last seen at a fraternity party where he reportedly was drinking:

http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/du...r/12745143.htm

Excerpts from article:
The search continued Monday for a missing student from Minnesota State University Moorhead.
Patrick Kycia, 19 . . . was last seen early Friday at a fraternity party.
One of Kycia's friends . . . said Kycia drank a lot of whiskey at a Phi Sigma Kappa house party.
"Guys just kept giving him shots . . . He must have been pretty drunk."
His wallet - with cash and bank cards still in it - was found about three blocks south of the frat house. . . .

This was just on the news here in South Dakota...sad. :(

(Looking bad for Phi Sigma Kappa)

Sep 27, 2005 7:48 pm US/Central
Body Of Missing College Student Found

(WCCO) Moorhead, Minn. Authorities found the body of missing Minnesota State University - Moorhead student Patrick Kycia in the Red River in the northern part of Moorhead, Minn. Tuesday morning.
Police confirm the body is that of Kycia, 19, of Stillwater, Minn. River rescue teams searching the area found Kycia's body around 9 a.m.
River rescue teams were searching the area because a shoe was found Monday night that matched the description of the shoes Kycia was wearing Thursday night.
Kycia's body was found three blocks from where that shoe was found.
Kycia's body will be sent to the Ramsey County Medical Examiner for an autopsy to determine the cause of death.
Police said there were no obvious signs of trauma on Kycia's body and they believe he has been in the river for the past four days.
Kycia was last seen early Friday at a fraternity party.
One of Kycia's friends, Ricky Sayarath, said Kycia drank a lot of whiskey at a Phi Sigma Kappa house party Thursday night.
"Guys just kept giving him shots," said Sayarath, who was at the party. "He must have been pretty drunk."
Kycia's wallet -- with cash and bank cards still in it -- was found about three blocks south of the frat house.
Two brief calls were made from Kycia's cell phone, but there was no talking.
Family and friends began to worry when Kycia missed a philosophy test and missed his 5 p.m. Friday shift for delivering pizzas.
Kycia's father, Julian Kycia, and his mother, Rose Foley, said that was out of character.
"He doesn't miss classes and he doesn't miss work," Julian Kycia said.

:( :(
how sad...

Soon after the man's body was found, police searched the Phi Sigma Kappa house. I haven't seen anything that specifies what the warrant said they were looking for.

Fall 2005 so far:

1 - hazing death (football game at Cal Poly latino GLO)

1 - booze death (Phi Sigma Kappa - Moorhead)

A Phi Sigma Kappa member at Minnesota State - Moorhead has been arrested after police found mushrooms, packaged for distribution, in his room at the fraternity house:

http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_271135120.html

The news story says the arrest is not conected to the death of the student whose body was found in the river. Still, it doesn't help the public image of Greeks.

Update Oct. 10, '05: Arrests in Death of Student (Minn. State - Moorhead, Phi Sigma Kappa)

Several young men, most (but not all) of whom are Minnesota State - Moorhead Phi Sigma Kappas, have been arrested on various felony and misdemeanor charges related to selling or supplying alcohol to the student whose body was found in a river recently.

A CBS station's website has the story:

http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_283114516.html

Update Oct. 11, '05: Phi Sigma Kappa Suspends Chapter at Minnesota State - Moorhead

From the web site of the St. Paul MN paper:

The national headquarters of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity has suspended operations of its Minnesota State University-Moorhead chapter following last month's alcohol-related death of a Moorhead college sophomore, a university spokesman said Tuesday.

Doug Hamilton said the national officers suspended the chapter's charter Monday, making the fraternity an inactive organization on campus.

To SAD On All Ends of the spectrum!:(

Girl is Dead and GLO is doing Drugs! :(

Wrong Picture to put forward!:(

Seven felony indictments
 

Oct. 12, 2005

Frat house hit with suspensions

Stillwater teen drowned after attending party
BY ALEX FRIEDRICH
Pioneer Press


Moorhead city officials and national fraternity officers are slapping restrictions on a Minnesota State University-Moorhead fraternity after an intoxicated college sophomore drowned last month.

Moorhead City Manager Bruce Messelt on Tuesday suspended for at least a year the license that allows the owners of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity house to rent out rooms on its two lower levels.

The fraternity's national headquarters also has suspended its Moorhead chapter and the membership of those charged in connection with the student's death.

Patrick Kycia, 19, drowned Sept. 23 in the Red River after drinking at a Phi Sigma Kappa party. The Stillwater teenager had a blood-alcohol level of 0.17 percent at the time of his death. According to a Clay County criminal complaint, fraternity members sold $1 cans of beer to underage drinkers at the party and passed around bottles of hard liquor for them to share.

Kycia was last seen staggering away from the party an hour or two after midnight.

On Monday, Clay County prosecutors charged seven current and former fraternity members with selling alcohol that resulted in his death. The charge of selling liquor to a minor resulting in death is a felony.

Prosecutors also charged the seven with selling alcohol without a license and providing alcohol to a person younger than 21, both of which are gross misdemeanors.

Two other members were charged with serving underage drinkers at previous parties.

The death is the second at Phi Sigma Kappa in 11/2 years and the latest of almost three years of alcohol-related problems for the fraternity house. In March 2004, Jason Reinhardt, a former member, died of acute alcohol poisoning at Phi Sigma Kappa after drinking heavily at a bar on his 21st birthday.

The more recent death also is the fraternity's third police incident in six months. City Manager Messelt said police responded to disorderly conduct complaints Aug. 22 and Oct. 6. On Oct. 11, they also investigated the charges related to Kycia's death.

Those "three strikes" triggered a clause that frees city officials to yank the license that allows the house's owner —a fraternity member and his father — to rent out the duplex.

Messelt said the violations dealt with the basement and main-floor rooms, which house four students. Those no longer can be rented out. The upper floor, which houses four more, can.

The revocation is for "some behavior for which we think the landlord bears some responsibility," Messelt said.

The national chapter also has put the brakes on the fraternity. On Monday, it suspended the privileges of those members arrested, including hosting social functions and participating in meetings. The chapter itself can't hold activities.

Phi Sigma Kappa Executive Director Mark Carey would not comment, except to say, "We take every situation involving violations of our policies very seriously."

University spokesman Doug Hamilton said the law doesn't allow him to comment on discipline. The university's student judicial-services body will hear the cases of the nine students facing charges. Punishment for illegally serving alcohol could include expulsion.

The fraternity's fate on campus will come under review by the university's student organization advisory council. Hamilton said officials are seeing whether they have grounds to withdraw recognition.

The Moorhead suspension is just the most recent sanction for out-of-control parties.

Just Monday, the national office of Phi Kappa Tau reportedly suspended its University of Colorado-Boulder chapter indefinitely after a number of party violations. The headquarters of Alpha Sigma Phi closed its Lehigh University chapter late last month after that house had been on probation for violating alcohol rules twice last year.

The University of Delaware itself suspended its chapter of Alpha Tau Omega for several years in February for alcohol and safety violations. Those reportedly came after a drunken student was hit by a train after leaving a party at the fraternity house.

Nov 10, 2005 6:08 pm US/Central
Final Autopsy Shows Kycia Died By Drowning


(AP) The final autopsy report on the death of Minnesota State University-Moorhead student Patrick Kycia says the cause of his death was drowning.

The body of the 19-year-old freshman from Stillwater was found in the Red River, five days after he left a party at a fraternity house.

The report from the Ramsey County Medical Examiner shows Kycia's blood-alcohol level was .17. It also says there were indications he had smoked marijuana.

Moorhead Police Sgt. Shannon Monroe says there were no signs of trauma to the body and no signs of a struggle. Nine men face charges of selling alcohol at the frat house.

Shame all the members of the fraternity will suffer because one kid was unlucky while drinking.

But last time I checked, it wasn't allowable for a fraternity to distribute alcohol (whether sold or free, no matter how old the consumer is). While we aren't right in the middle of the investigation (and therefore don't know every single detail), it sounds like the fraternity was distributing instead of a licensed vendor. That's what is getting the chapter suspended (and there's probably other stuff we don't know about).

It is quite possible that this chapter distributes/sells alcohol on a regular basis...we don't know. The difference is that something happened that called people's attention to what was going on. Had no one gotten hurt, it's possible that no one would have found out what was going on in the party, and they wouldn't be suspended at this point.

I feel horrible for this young man's family. Please please please....when you are out partying, look out for your friends, brothers, sisters, and guests. Do whatever you can to keep them safe. That's the bottom line.

PsychTau

Yeah, it's shame that those who were supplying alcohol to underagers, and those "brothers" who should have been looking out for each other, are getting punished. Wow. What is this world coming to.:rolleyes:

Criminal complaint describes what happened at Moorhead fraternity

Robert Franklin,_Star Tribune

Last update: November 11, 2005 at 8:39 AM


As many as 200 people trekked through the fraternity house basement in Moorhead, Minn., as a deejay blasted music. Nearly everybody had a beer in hand, and some drank whiskey. Half or more of the partygoers were underage.

When the party was over, according to a criminal complaint, there were several hundred empty beer cans. And one student was dead.

The complaint, reflecting students' stories about the party at the Phi Sigma Kappa house on Sept. 22, was filed Monday as seven members of the fraternity were charged with a felony in connection with the death of Patrick Kycia, 19, of Stillwater, a sophomore at Minnesota State University, Moorhead. Two other members were charged with gross misdemeanors involving previous parties.

Kycia had a blood-alcohol content of 0.17, authorities said Monday.

The size of the party wasn't necessarily unusual, said Moorhead police Sgt. Shannon Monroe.

Kycia was drinking heavily at the party, a roommate said. He disappeared in the early morning.

Kycia was found five days later, dead from drowning in the Red River, about 2 miles away.

In the ensuing investigation, Moorhead police searched the fraternity's garbage, conducted lineups and did "upwards of 100" interviews, Monroe said.

The fraternity and defense lawyers could not be reached for comment Monday.

The fraternity's national office in Indianapolis previously denied that members gave Kycia alcohol. But the complaint quoted partygoers as saying Kycia drank beer, took long "pulls" from a whiskey bottle and became "extremely intoxicated" by 1 a.m., sitting on a stairway, resting his head against a wall and becoming nonresponsive. He apparently staggered from the house between 1 and 2 a.m., witnesses said.

Beer was selling for $1 a can, and Kycia, who was not a member of the fraternity, apparently had no trouble getting served that night. Others had no trouble, either. Some 18-year-old women said they got free beer. One 19-year-old said that for $20, he got all the beer he could drink and a bottle of whiskey. Police said they found 12 empty 30-can beer packages in the fraternity's garbage, along with six empty liquor bottles.

Six fraternity members appeared Monday in Clay County District Court in Moorhead on charges of felony sale of liquor to a minor resulting in death and two gross misdemeanors, selling alcohol without a license and procuring alcohol for a person under 21.

Released pending further court action were Marcus Carney, 21; Joseph Henschel, 22; Nicholas Gulmon, 25; Christopher Sayre, 20; James Sander, 23, and Jason Morris, 26. A seventh member is to face the same charges today.

Two others, Evan Narog, 22, and Raymond Ogren, 25, are to appear Oct. 25 on the two gross misdemeanor charges in connection with previous parties.

.

15 police calls

Parties were responsible for most of the 15 previous police calls to the house, according to the complaint.

The Sept. 22 party, another in August and the discovery of psychedelic mushrooms during the recent police investigation may give the city reason to suspend the house's rental license for six months or longer, City Manager Bruce Messelt said.

The university "is intently investigating any grounds to withdraw recognition" of the fraternity and, while student discipline is confidential, its administrators "certainly watch police reports with great interest," MSU, Moorhead spokesman Doug Hamilton said.

Kycia's was the second alcohol-related death connected to the fraternity in the past 18 months, authorities said.

Fraternity member Jason Reinhardt, celebrating his 21st birthday on March 21, 2004, tried to consume 21 drinks in one hour at Coach's bar. He died later that day at the fraternity house from an overdose of alcohol.

County Attorney Lisa Borgen, who appeared in court Monday, said, "We as a society need to take this more seriously."

The main factor in this case is the lack of true facts. The media in a mostly crime free city picked up on a story and ran with it. The truth of what actually occurred has been completely overlooked.

For example...

Would you believe that one of the members charged in the case wasn't even home that night? That another was sleeping in the house and was also charged?

This house isn't even a fraternity house. It is owned and rented by individual members of the fraternity, but is not zoned "fraternity or sorority" by the city.

The party was thrown together by two men who did not live at the house, while most of those who lived at the house were at the bar. As far as the sales of alcohol, there is a HUGE difference in sharing a 30-pack of beer with a couple people and having them pitch in a few dollars and selling beer in large quantities for a profit in the basement of a house.

The lives of these men involved have been torn to pieces. They have lost jobs, failed classes, and lost all privacy. The city tried to take away their home, regardless that the courts had not determined if anyone was guilty.

The friends of the student that died admitted to smoking marajuana and drinking beer prior to attending the party. None them have been charged for supplying alcohol, using illegal substances, or anything relating to the death of their "friend".

No one invited the student who died to the party. He and his friends just showed up because they wanted to party. He had a history of mental illness, which has been overlooked. He has a history of drug abuse, which has been overlooked. There is evidence of suicide in this case... but all of it has been overlooked.

The loss of any young life is sad, but to ruin the lives of countless other students so the community will "feel something has been done" is outrageous and ridiculous.

Update Nov. 18 '06: Million - Dollar Settlement; More Settlements May Come

A North Dakoa news source (In-Forum) linked to the Fargo Forum reports in a nNov. 18 '06 article that one of the twelve defendants in a wrongful deth lawsuit has settled for $1,000,000:

http://www.in-forum.com/News/articles/146687

The article indicates that the person who has settled will not pay directly --

. . . the money will come from the company that insured the fraternity's national chapter and its members, said . . .[the attorney] for Kycia's father . . . .

The insurance has refused to provide coverage . . .[to the defendant who has settled] . . . under the policy but Kycia's family will take legal action if that continues, the settlement reads. . . .

There may be more settlement agreements in the future. The wrongful death suit also names -- besides the person who has settled --

the university
the local fraternity chapter
the national fraternity
the owner of the fraternity house
and seven other individuals who were members of the fraternity at the time.

Comment: it's probably fair to say that insurance companies, other national fraternites and sororities (not just Phi Sigma Kappa), and college administrators -- and their lawyers -- will be looking at how this settlement and any others in this case play out.