Body of Nathan Bihlmaier, Missing Harvard Student, Found in Portland Harbor

May 22, 2012 — -- The body of a missing Harvard Business School student who was last seen outside a waterfront bar in Portland, Maine, days before his graduation, was recovered Tuesday from the city's harbor, police said.

Around noon today police found the body of Nathan Bihlmaier, 31, who on Thursday would have received his MBA and in June would have become a father for the first time. Bihlmaier was last seen early Sunday morning after drinking with friends at an Irish Pub near the harbor.

Bihlmaier, police said, was asked to leave the Ri Ra pub around 12:20 a.m. Sunday after becoming intoxicated and rowdy. He soon became separated from his friends and didn't return to his hotel.

The two friends with whom he was celebrating their graduation reported him missing Sunday.

Cell phone records indicated he had not traveled far from the bar, police said.

The discovery of the body ends a three-day search, much of which was conducted underwater by local, state and federal authorities. Authorities employed skilled divers and cadaver-sniffing dogs on inflatable rafts.

On Monday police found an article of clothing in an outlet of the harbor, which they confirmed belonged to Bihlmaier.

Bihlmaier, a native of Osborne, Kan., is survived by his wife, who is pregnant with the couple's first child.

Bihlmaier had recently accepted a job at a health care company and was "thrilled about the prospect of being a dad," said Brian Kenny, Harvard Business School spokesman.

Police told the Boston Herald that there was no indication of foul play and the body would be autopsied to determine the cause of death.