A father contacted police with concerns as his son’s body went unnoticed in a University of Canterbury for nearly eight weeks. The young man was found on Monday night – only after fellow students at the Sonoda Christchurch Campus accommodation noticed an odour, Stuff understands.
It remains unclear how the student died, but the length of time it took for his body to be found meant police had to call in a disaster victim identification team (DVI) team. The DVI process involves examining human remains for fingerprints, DNA and dental records to confirm an identity.
A close friend of the student said he was a “good and confident guy”. He would sometimes “go off the grid for a week or so”. The friend said the student’s father contacted police with concerns about his son. “He contacted my friends first to try and reach him and when they couldn’t he told us he would call the police.”
The death has prompted another student to come forward with concerns about the level of care provided at the university’s halls. They are managed by Campus Living Villages (CLV), which has headquarters staff based in Australia.
One student, who spoke on condition of anonymity but whose identify has been verified, said first-year students went into the halls with an expectation they would be part of a community that looked out for them.
Instead, students in her own Campus Living-run hall only saw their residential assistant (RA) about once a week while passing in the hallways or in the dining room. The main form of communication with staff was through a Facebook page, with most posts to do with maintenance issues.
“We have no idea who is running this place, there is an overwhelming lack of presence from adult staff in this hall,” the student said. “If a student was in crisis the hall of residence would have no idea … we could disappear for weeks and it would go unnoticed by staff here.”
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She said it was “shocking” to learn the student’s death went unnoticed for so long, “but when thinking about what procedures CLV has put in place to make sure their residents are all right, I can see how it was able to happen”.
She felt CLV needed to be investigated.
The young man was found dead about 11pm on Monday. It is understood his room was at the end of the hallway, an area the cleaners were not expected to be in. It is understood RAs have meetings with Sonoda residents each week or so, but the meetings are not compulsory. Cleaners tidy up the kitchen areas but do not clean individual rooms.
Stuff asked both the University of Canterbury and CLV on Tuesday what systems were in place to check on students, whether there would be an investigation into the student’s care, and when they were notified the student was missing. Neither would answer those questions.
On Wednesday the university again declined to respond to concerns raised by the student, and said the deceased student’s family had asked for privacy and for the university not to comment.
It cost nearly $16,400 for the 41-week 2019 university year – more than $400 a week – to stay at Sonoda. According to the university website, it is a first-year, fully-catered hall of residence with 108 beds suitable for first-year students.
It says it offers a “smaller close-knit community” and “pastoral care”, with two residential support staff, and breakfast, lunch and dinner served on site every day.
Forensic teams were focused on the Hinoki accommodation, inside Sonoda’s campus, on Tuesday. Detective Senior Sergeant Craig Johnson said an autopsy was completed on Tuesday. Police were working closely with the family and the University of Canterbury, he said.
“Police continue to make a number of inquiries around what happened to assist the coroner, who will ultimately rule on cause of death,” he said.
Earlier, CVL head of marketing Justine Cooper, who is based in Sydney, said staff were “saddened” by the death. She said CVL was “working with the police and the university”. A university spokeswoman earlier said the community was “saddened by the news of the sudden death of a student and the university is supporting those affected by the loss”.
Anyone with information that may help police is asked to call 105.
Source: Stuff
Featured Image: Police were at the University of Canterbury’s Sonoda Christchurch Campus student accommodation after a body was discovered on Monday night. Photo /Stuff
