Friends Remember Slain Medical Student as a 'Person Who Would Have Cured Cancer'
Paul DeWolf was found dead from a single gunshot at an off-campus home.
July 30, 2013— -- The death of a 25-year-old University of Michigan medical student is being investigated as a homicide while his friends remember him as an aspiring surgeon in the prime of his life and the "type of person who would have cured cancer."
Paul DeWolf was found dead Wednesday from a single gunshot wound in his bedroom at an off-campus fraternity house that he shared with other medical students in Ann Arbor, Mich. No suspects have been named and no weapon was found at the scene, police said.
His room was orderly and valuables appeared to be untouched when officers arrived.
In the wake of the homicide investigation, the University of Michigan has increased police patrols and warned students to stay alert as authorities hunt for a killer.
The university is taking "all necessary steps to assure the safety of the campus community," University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman said in a statement on the school's website.
In Western Michigan, where DeWolf grew up, his loved ones are in disbelief.
"He had such big aspirations for life," DeWolf's friend Sarala Sarah said. "He's the type of person who would have cured cancer."
DeWolf, a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force, was laser focused on his surgical training and was part of a research team that was working on a treatment for anterior cruciate ligament tears in the knee. DeWolf was in his fourth year at the school and received his undergraduate degree from Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Mich.
His close friend Jason Halterman says DeWolf loved life.
"He loved everyone regardless. He taught me to be a better, more caring person and I love him for it," he said.
In a statement to ABC News, one fellow researcher said DeWolf was "the epitome of everything great in the field of medicine."
DeWolf often posted on Facebook about his friends, his love of scuba diving and running marathons.
"We extend our deepest condolences to Paul's family, friends and colleagues," UM president Coleman said in the statement.
"He was working and training among a close, nurturing community of healers and I know they will help each other through this difficult time. They will need the support of the broader campus community in the weeks and months ahead, and we will provide it."