Doctoral student Kexin Cai was found dead

Kexin Cai GR died at age 26, Jon Kull, dean of the Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies, wrote in an email to the campus. Lebanon police and New Hampshire Fish and Game found Cai – who was it reported missing on May 17 – dead Monday afternoon “after an extensive search,” Kull said.

Cai was a native of China and a second-year graduate student in the Department of Psychology and Brain Sciences, Kull wrote. Her research focused on communication challenges for people with autism, and according to Kull’s email, she enjoyed hiking, skiing and road trips.

“Kexin was an exceptionally gifted and humble researcher with a truly endearing personality,” Kull wrote. “She loved cats so much that she would sneak pictures of them into every poster or presentation. Kexin loved the Upper Valley.”

According to Cai’s partner, Kristian Droste, a research assistant in psychology and brain sciences, Cai checked into Dick’s House on May 13 because of a “mental health crisis.” Dick’s House transferred Cai to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, where she was discharged on May 15. Cai said he believes Cai left her home on her electric bike on the evening of May 15.

Lebanon police used drones in their search and tracked Cai’s cell phone records and credit card transactions, Kull and security director Keiselim Montás wrote in a campus-wide email on May 19. Montás and Kull wrote that police “expressed no suspicion of foul play at that time.”

Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center declined to comment on Cai’s release. Health Services Director Mark Reed did not respond to multiple requests for comment at the time of publication.