KINGSVILLE, Texas — Word spread quickly across the Texas A&M University-Kingsville campus Wednesday: No longer was a beloved professor missing.
Dr. Hueytzen Wu had been found dead.
“That was just very surprising because you don’t want that to be the outcome,”said TAMU-K graduate student Jorvis McGee.
The search started Tuesday after the university notified Wu’s family that the professor who had spent 40 years teaching in the school’s math department hadn’t shown up for work for the past three days of classes.
His family notified the Kingsville Police Department, who sent out an email Wednesday afternoon with tragic news.
“It is with a heavy heart that KPD reports that the body of Dr. Wu, has been located at Boca Chica Beach near Brownsville, TX,” Chief Ricardo Torres said in the statement. “The officers and staff of the Kingsville Police Department extend their sincerest condolences to the family of Dr. Wu for their loss.”
The police department put out a press release earlier in the day Wednesday stating that no one had seen Wu since around 4:45 p.m. on Oct. 1.
That night, the release said people saw Wu in Benavides and Hebbronville. Wu, who was a diabetic, reportedly did not have his medication with him, and appeared “dazed and confused.”
The release goes on to say that a large sum of cash had been withdrawn from Wu’s account during the time he was missing. Wu’s minivan had also been discovered at Boca Chica Beach.
After getting word of Wu’s death, McGee had a message for the professor's family and for his campus.
“To Javelina nation -- to (Wu’s) family first of all — we are so sorry about the devastating news,” he said. "Just as well as it’s affected you, it’s affected the students here, the Javelina Nation community. We give you our thoughts and prayers, and I guarantee we’re going to do something for Dr. Wu.”
McGee said he and other students had discussed the possibility of holding a candlelight vigil, but no plans had been finalized yet.
