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

exlurker · #1 09-26-2005, 02:11 PM

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. . . .

AXi1257 · #2 09-26-2005, 03:02 PM

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

hoosier · #3 09-27-2005, 11:34 PM

(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.

mmcat · #4 09-27-2005, 11:56 PM

how sad...

exlurker · #5 09-28-2005, 12:47 PM

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.

hoosier · #6 09-28-2005, 01:48 PM

Fall 2005 so far:

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

1 - booze death (Phi Sigma Kappa - Moorhead)

exlurker · #7 09-28-2005, 02:12 PM

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.

exlurker · #8 10-10-2005, 02:39 PM

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

exlurker · #9 10-11-2005, 05:38 PM

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.

Tom Earp · #10 10-11-2005, 05:43 PM

To SAD On All Ends of the spectrum!

Girl is Dead and GLO is doing Drugs!

Wrong Picture to put forward!

hoosier · #11 10-12-2005, 06:09 PM

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.

hoosier · #12 11-10-2005, 08:42 PM

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.

James · #13 11-11-2005, 05:48 AM

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

PsychTau2 · #14 11-11-2005, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by James
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

PM_Mama00 · #15 11-11-2005, 10:54 AM

Quote:

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

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.