Dartmouth University fraternity under investigation for hazing after Beta Alpha Omega student and member Won Jang died in NH

MIDDLETOWN, Delaware — The death of a Dartmouth College student and fraternity member from Middletown, Delaware, has sparked an investigation into hazing, police said.

Won Jang, 20, was reported missing Sunday afternoon after last being seen the night before at the Connecticut River docks on the school’s New Hampshire campus.

Search and rescue teams found his body off the coast on Sunday evening.

The cause of death has not yet been determined, but the police do not suspect foul play.

“There is no evidence that Won’s death was the result of a crime,” Scott Brown, dean of the college, wrote in a message to the Dartmouth community.

Charles Dennis, police chief of Hanover, New Hampshire, said in an interview with New Hampshire ABC affiliate WMUR that they were investigating whether hazing played a role in the student’s death.

“There is evidence that alcohol was involved, at least from witnesses and conversations with such people. That is also part of our investigation,” said Dennis. “We received an anonymous email from the college this morning that there may have been hazing involved, so we will definitely be looking into that aspect as well.”

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Friends of Jang said he attended a riverside event hosted by his fraternity and a sorority that night, and alcohol was involved, the student newspaper The Dartmouth reported.

Jang, a biomedical engineering student, was a member of Beta Alpha Omega, according to the fraternity’s website.

School officials said Beta Alpha Omega Fraternity and Alpha Phi Sorority were suspended at the start of the investigation.

Dartmouth officials say both organizations have previously faced alcohol-related disciplinary action.

ABC affiliate WPVI of Philadelphia reached out to the fraternity but received no response.

Dartmouth released the following statement on the incident on Tuesday evening:

“The entire Dartmouth community is mourning the tragic loss of Won Jang. Our counseling team has been assisting the family since yesterday, and Dartmouth is providing all the support it can to Won’s parents, family and friends.”

One of Jang’s friends, Kledian Marinaj, told WMUR he was an “amazing guy” who always had “a smile on his face.”

“I had just spoken to him to arrange to go out to dinner sometime,” Marinaj said. “Of course I was very excited when I got the news, so I met up with friends around here and we went for a walk and talked about all the great things about Won, about how he cracks jokes and makes people laugh.”

Hanover police said Tuesday that they could not release any further details, but urged anyone with information about Jang’s death to contact them.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.