According to The Baltimore Sun, Friend wrote the words, “Sorry guys” on a white board in his house, and posted “I’m sorry everyone” on Facebook shortly before he left his home. Security cameras at Temple University and a nearby pharmacy caught Friend running near the school’s campus, but he never returned home.
Police, friends and family members launched a search for the young man, but their efforts were unsuccessful. A New Jersey State Police spokesman confirmed that an unidentified male body had been found on Aug. 22 just off the shore of the Delaware River in Riverton Township, N.J. As of Aug. 24 police had not publicly confirmed that it is the body of Roswell Friend. A family friend, Unabyrd Wadhams, said Roswell’s mother told her the body had been identified, and that it was her son.
According to the young man’s close friend, Tyler Brown, Friend seemed upset just before setting off on his run, possibly over rent due on the rowhouse he shared with his roommates. At 7:29 p.m. on Thursday, Friend texted Brown, writing, “I love you dude.” That was just minutes before campus cameras caught images of Friend running by.
Friend graduated from Temple two weeks ago, having majored in broadcasting and media. He interviewed for a job at Comcast and had a third interview scheduled, Brown said. Friend didn’t show up for the third meeting.
Chad Boyle, Friend’s track coach for three years at Dulaney High School, described the young man as an “awesome” athlete with a “vibrant personality.” “He was very likable and very energetic,” Boyle said. “He was a very dedicated individual.”
“He was just a wonderful, wonderful human being,” said Wadhams, whose own son went to high school with Friend.
“He always had a smile on his face and was the type of person to make friends very easily,” she told The Baltimore Sun. “He had just finished his undergraduate studies and had everything ahead of him.”
The police investigation is continuing to determine the cause of death.
This is a sad story anyway you look at it, but if this young man cut his own promising future short because of financial burdens, it is even more tragic.
