Nathan Bihlmaier, Harvard Student, Drowns 2 Days Before Graduation
Nathan Bihlmaier, a Harvard Business School student, was pulled from a Maine harbor Tuesday- just two days before he was supposed to graduate with a prestigious degree. Police are considering the drowning of the man an accident.
Nathan Bihlmaier, 31, had last been seen Sunday morning after a night out carousing with friends at a bar in Portland's Old Port. He was told to leave the establishment for being too intoxicated, and then went missing. For days, police searched, hoping to find the soon-to-be graduate alive.
"We had high hopes throughout working with the family and the community to bring Nate home," Portland Police Chief Michael Sauschuck told The Boston Herald. "These weren't the circumstances that we wanted."
Bihlmaier was last seen at Rita's Irish Pub, where he was told to leave at 11:30. By 12:54 Sunday morning, his phone was shut off, according to police. Now, authorities are trying to determine exactly how the man drowned.
Part of piecing together the puzzle was locating the man's body. Officials originally found some of Nathan's clothing in the harbor Monday, and eventually used dive teams and K-9 units to assist.
The loss of Bihlmaier, whose wife was pregnant with their first child, affected those that knew him greatly. After earning his MBA, he had been scheduled to work at United Health. Friends and colleagues called him a good person.
"He has been widely regarded by his friends as a gregarious person who was the light of the school, and of his section," Harvard Business School Dean Nitin Nohria told KDSK News.
The "tragic end" of Bihlmaier has so far not been suspected of foul play, according to Chief Sauschuck. Making sure, however, requires that the body be sent to a medical examiner.
Nohria plans to honor the late Bihlmaier at the graduation commencement today.
"We could not have asked for anything more from the police community here in terms of how diligent they have been in helping us in this very difficult circumstance. We were proud to have Nate as a student at Harvard and it's a very sad day today indeed," he said.
