Spanish Police Find Body of Missing College Student Austin Bice
A missing U.S. exchange student's body was found in a river in Madrid.
March 8, 2011— -- Authorities in Spain have found the body of a San Diego State University student who had been missing for more than a week.
Police officials found Austin Bice's body today in the Manzanares River, a waterway near the Madrid nightclub where the 22-year-old man was last seen Feb. 26, the Associated Press reported today.
National Police officials told the AP that the cause of death had yet to be determined that there were no signs of foul play.
The international business major from Carlsbad, Calif., was studying at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid for the semester.
Bice, a fluent Spanish speaker, posted on his blog that he planned to attend a concert the night he disappeared.
Friends say Bice left them outside of the nightclub that was hosting the concert to walk to his host family's home.
Initial reports said that Bice was denied entrance into the club because he was too drunk, which friends and family have denied.
"I've known him for over a decade and I've never seen him drunk and I've never once seen him intoxicated to the point where he wasn't able to make a clear judgment or have a clear head," Bice's friend Connor Fabiano said.
Friends that were with Bice in Spain said he left his passport and winter coat in his home.
Family Had Vowed to Stay
Earlier, Bice's family had vowed to stay in Spain until he was found.
"We just need to keep going and have all of those people look for him so we can get him home," mother Pam Bice said.
Larry Bice, his father, joined friends and Spanish investigators in the search effort, dotting Madrid with thousands of pictures of the college senior.