Search teams in Patong, Thailand are looking for the body of an Arizona State University student presumed to be dead after going missing during a late-night swim yesterday, azcentral.com reports.
The 21-year-old has been identified as Joshua Shane, a junior sustainability major participating as one of 20 ASU students in a four-week program, that, according to local paper Phuket Wan Tourism News, was "offer[ing] suggestions on a sustainable transport system for the island."
With plans to work in Phuket for this week, Shane and his fellow students were staying at a three-star hotel near Patong Beach. Four members of the student group began swimming at around 10 p.m. last night, Thailand time.
According to local accounts of the tragedy, a current swept Shane and another student under the water. Although the other student survived and was treated at a hospital, Shane's body was never located.
"The U.S. Embassy notified Joshua Shane's parents Tuesday that their son is presumed drowned," said Julie Newberg, an ASU spokesman told azcentral.com.
"ASU is deeply saddened, and we offer our condolences to the family and friends of Joshua Shane," Newberg said in a phone interview.
"We are focusing on counseling services for students and faculty [in the program]. They are receiving counseling in Patong, Thailand. I am working today to answer that question [of whether the students will come back earlier than planned]," Newberg continued.
Some of the program's students received counseling at a local hospital in Phuket last night, reported the Phuket Wan Tourism News. According to Newberg's statements to azcentral.com, the program, beginning on May 25, and was to end June 19.