By Anne Levin

The body of missing Princeton University student Lauren Blackburn was found last Friday at Lake Carnegie following a multi-day search. Blackburn, 23, had battled bipolar disorder, according to an obituary on matherhodge.com, the website of the Mather-Hodge Funeral Home.

A member of the class of 2026, Blackburn was reported missing on Tuesday, April 22 by the University’s Department of Public Safety. He had last been seen on Saturday, April 19 near Firestone Library. A search of Lake Carnegie began around 12 a.m. Tuesday morning after a missing person’s phone — presumed to be Blackburn’s — was heard pinging near the lake.

A resident of Corydon, Indiana, Blackburn was a National Merit Scholar and a Gates Scholar at Corydon Central High School. He participated in cross-country, track, the National Honors Society, and Academic Bowl, according to his obituary. At Princeton, he first studied math before settling on English with a minor in creative writing. He was a former features writer for The Daily Princetonian.

“Lauren loved learning and reading,” reads the obituary. “He was passionate about Virginia Woolf and Wuthering Heights. He enjoyed K-pop and cheering for the Celtics, Chiefs, and Hotspurs. Lauren served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the California Santa Rosa mission in 2020-2021. He received the 2024 Sam Hutton Fund for the Arts, and spent last summer in South Korea taking classes and learning more about his Korean roots. Lauren’s compassionate, thoughtful, and playful spirit will be greatly missed.”

According to The Daily Princetonian, Blackburn was a member of New College West. He was a recipient of the 2024 Sam Hutton Fund for the Arts.

As the search for Blackburn continued, the University offered support services to all students. Regan Crotty, Dean of Undergraduate Students, informed the University community via email on April 25 that Blackburn’s body had been found.

Reached for further comment on Tuesday, the University’s Media Relations offices declined to provide any additional information. A visitation and memorial service will be held on Sunday, May 4 at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Corydon, Indiana.