OT: Missing GVSU Student Brendan Santo Found Dead
For those that have been following this story, a very sad ending. Brendan Santo was last seen alive the day of the UM-MSU game. The president of MSU just sent out the following email...
"Spartan Community,
We are saddened to share that after more than two months of extensive searching using countless resources and support from so many of you and members of the public from nearly every corner of the state and country, MSU Police and Public Safety has recovered a body believed to be Brendan Santo from the Red Cedar River.
We continue to believe there was no foul play involved and that Brendan did not intend to harm himself. There also is no threat to the safety and security of our campus..."
January 21st, 2022 at 1:57 PM ^
Hmm, my GF and I watch a lot of crime shows on ID and Oxygen, it's amazing how much lazy and shoddy police work is done in haste. Seems like kind of a quick assessment, if there was foul play, I hope it's investigated thoroughly.
RIP Brendan.
January 21st, 2022 at 2:00 PM ^
Yeah, I don't want to speculate, but I did wonder about the wisdom of including the "no evidence of foul play" conclusion quite yet. Hell, if someone just pushed him in the river and he hit his head, that's "foul play"
January 21st, 2022 at 2:07 PM ^
Exactly, the ones that really bug me are when someone goes missing and they don't look into it soon enough because "they're an adult and they probably just want time away and alone".
Oh yeah? Well we haven't spoken to him/her in 2 weeks and we spoke almost daily, so can you fucking look into it maybe?
January 21st, 2022 at 3:14 PM ^
It really bugs the heck out of me and Deena.
January 21st, 2022 at 2:11 PM ^
I mean sure, but they have been investigating this hard for months. If there is now no signs of foul play on the body I think it's a good idea to tell community there still is no suspected foul play.
He was last seen leaving a dorm by himself near the river. I'm not sure if he was intoxicated, but it was a football weekend in a college town. Occam's razor would lead me to think he accidentally stumbled into river if nothing has shown and evidence of foul play.
January 21st, 2022 at 2:25 PM ^
I, personally, am pretty happy that William of Ockham wasn't a homicide investigator. A whole bunch of murders look like accidents until investigated thoroughly and an autopsy is complete... ;-)
January 21st, 2022 at 3:09 PM ^
there are plenty of dangerous areas along that river walk, especially at night. by that, i mean, easy to fall prey to attackers.
January 21st, 2022 at 5:37 PM ^
The area where he was last known to be is right along Michigan Ave. It's not the river trail on campus. It's probably 20 feet down to the river and there is a barricade due to how steep it is. It's possible he ran into an attacker there but it's well lit and pretty busy.
January 21st, 2022 at 4:15 PM ^
You shouldn’t put telling the community they’re safe ahead of figuring out the truth. It happens all the time. I get wanting to assure people there isn’t some random person out there killing people, but that should wait until you know for sure. Also, Occam’s razor isn’t a good investigative tool.
January 21st, 2022 at 4:41 PM ^
If he stumbled in the river and was drowning I think there would have been screams for help. Falling into a freezing cold river would wake you up pretty quickly. To me it seems more likely that he was robbed at knifepoint, they may just not have evidence for it. There have been plenty of crimes along that trail over the years.
January 21st, 2022 at 5:36 PM ^
The shock of falling into cold water may well have taken his breath away and kept him from screaming!
It happened to me in a lake with no current. The temperature shock left me unable to make a sound for over 3 minutes. I imagine if I had been in a river I wouldn't be here today.
January 21st, 2022 at 8:45 PM ^
I find your thought process........ fascinating.
January 22nd, 2022 at 1:43 AM ^
Almost like he was there.
January 22nd, 2022 at 8:27 PM ^
That's the myth about drowning, there often aren't screams for help. It's very quiet. Children have drowned in pools a few feet from adults because they are silent. They are underwater and can't get above water to scream or thrash. Not much different for adults.
January 21st, 2022 at 2:13 PM ^
Considering MSU took a lot of heat for not having operating security cameras in the area where he exited the dorms (cameras were in place just not functioning) I'm sure this is their hope. If someone pushed him in they had 3 months to figure that out and didn't. I'd be pretty confident that there aren't going to be any major revelations absent obvious physical evidence to the contrary on his person.
January 21st, 2022 at 4:20 PM ^
It's highly unlikely murderers are just out there casually waiting by rivers for victims to sneak up on and push in.
January 21st, 2022 at 4:35 PM ^
Yeah, really? Is it that hard to imagine a scenario where they had no evidence of foul play until they found the body? “Give us your money.” “No.” Punch/push into river, drowning death.
January 21st, 2022 at 5:17 PM ^
You watch too much TV.
River banks are not hotspots for opportunistic crimes like robbery.
January 21st, 2022 at 5:32 PM ^
You just proved you don't know what the hell you're talking about. Anyone that knows the Red Cedar and the part that runs through campus knows it is very well traveled, with trails running all up and down it - and yes, the trails run right up to the river banks. Students use it all day and night as a short-cut all over campus. As such, it is also notoriously dangerous, especially at night, with women warned to watch for sexual assault risk and men for robbery risk.
Seriously, unless you know what you're talking about, sometimes it's OK to just be quiet.
January 21st, 2022 at 5:51 PM ^
So it's easily accessible and highly traveled?
Yeah let's push a kid in a river and hope no one sees or hears him struggling. And hopefully he can't swim. Let's totally take a huge risk like that for an underage college kid's wallet. There's probably AT LEAST $7 in his wallet!
January 21st, 2022 at 6:07 PM ^
Keep going! You can't back away from you uninformed opinion now! Yes, no criminals ever target college kids, who only ever have $7 in their wallet. For instance, there are never, ever muggings and robberies on East U. in Ann Arbor late at night. Yes, keep going!!!
January 21st, 2022 at 6:16 PM ^
Oh no, the old clown guy who posts the same Jennifer Lawrence gif all the time can't admit that his True Crimes analysis doesn't make sense :(
January 21st, 2022 at 6:23 PM ^
Whoa, whoa, whoa. You can get as mean spirited as you want and attack me personally, but let's leave J Law out of this. She is a national treasure...
January 22nd, 2022 at 5:22 PM ^
What trails are you talking about, there are side walks 15 feet from the banks throughout campus , and the depth is 3-4 ft until you get about ten feet in.
Are you serious that students use the river as a short- cut. HORSE SHIT. There isn't a river "trail" on campus.
Thanks for the bs info on this.
Grew up in EL, and know the campus well, you don't.
January 21st, 2022 at 2:52 PM ^
I'm not a detective, but I watch a lot of detective shows.
January 21st, 2022 at 4:15 PM ^
I too am not a detective....but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
January 21st, 2022 at 1:58 PM ^
RIP young man...... I hope your family can find peace and closure..... tragic
January 21st, 2022 at 2:08 PM ^
just sad all around.
January 21st, 2022 at 2:33 PM ^
I can’t imagine what the parents are going through. One of my worst nightmares.
hope they have found peace.
January 21st, 2022 at 2:47 PM ^
Terrible to hear this is the outcome. His father works in our company and they have been asking for everyone in the Michigan area to share the search information and hotline numbers frequently hoping for a positive outcome.
Truly sad to lose someone that young and feel horrible for their loss.
January 21st, 2022 at 2:52 PM ^
I knew of two different high schoolers from my county who got drunk and died in that river. People back home always speculated they tried crossing the river at "shallow points" to avoid police because they were drunk and underage.
January 21st, 2022 at 2:56 PM ^
So sad, RIP Brendan?.
Wow, two months in the water. Pretty difficult to reach any conclusions about cause of death/foul play. Will probably never know what really happened.
January 21st, 2022 at 4:16 PM ^
I think it's reasonable to say with over 95% certainty we know what really happened.
January 21st, 2022 at 4:30 PM ^
I'm tempted to ask you to enlighten us and speculate away with your 95% confidence. But there's really no point.
January 21st, 2022 at 6:05 PM ^
Was he pushed into the river as a joke that went wrong? Did he slip? Was he lost? Was he pushed in the river as part of a robbery?
He was texting friends and then nothing.
January 21st, 2022 at 10:44 PM ^
You don't know what happened. Period. But you keep running your mouth for some reason.
January 21st, 2022 at 3:25 PM ^
Never the ending you want to hear. Can’t imagine the loss his family is feeling.
January 21st, 2022 at 3:27 PM ^
I hope his loved ones can find some peace.
January 21st, 2022 at 4:29 PM ^
Tough river to conduct a search, such dark water that you can't see anything 6" in.
Sad ending to this.
Prayers to the family.
January 21st, 2022 at 4:47 PM ^
Sad to hear.
Sounds similar to a kid from my high school. He just disappeared walking home from the bar (post high school days obviously) and wasn't found until months later when the ice on the local bay melted in the spring. His parents were certain that foul play was involved but all evidence points to him simply deciding to walk across the ice and falling in. Contrary to popular belief, most drownings are not yelling and splashing, they're usually very silent events.
January 21st, 2022 at 5:02 PM ^
I hadn't heard about this. That's very sad. I can't imagine the hell that his family must be going through.
January 21st, 2022 at 6:13 PM ^
Rest in peace.