Volume 126 Issue 59
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
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uncertaints were at the scene where a body matching the description ofummann vigilante, a university student that had gone missing early Monday afternoon, Trent McKinley said that investigators believe the body to be that of Villagomez. Family and friends have been notified.
Police preliminarily identify missing student's body
EMILY DONOVAN
edonovan@kansan.com
Police have preliminarily identified a body found at 1:30 p.m. as Gianfranco Villagomez, the 23-year-old University student who has been missing since Saturday morning.
Preliminary information does not indicate foul play. An autopsy and further investigation are planned for today.
The body was found in the grass behind the home at 837 Avalon Rd.
"Family and friends were notified by officers late this afternoon," Lawrence Police spokesperson Sgt. Trent McKinley wrote in a news release. "At their request, they ask for privacy as they deal with this tragic loss."
Earlier yesterday, his friend Sarah Alig, a graduate student from Kansas City, Kan., described Villagomez as a role model.
of his way to wave and say hi to acquaintances. When Villagomez was a resident assistant at Hashinger Residence Hall, he greeted freshmen from other floors by name, said one of those former freshmen while helping to distribute flyers.
"He's very gentle-hearted. He's goofy and kind," Alig said. "He's so hard-working and dedicated to whatever he does."
Through the Help Find Giancrano Villagomez Facebook page, Alig and other friends have distributed fliers throughout downtown Lawrence, knocked on doors and talked to media.
She said he always went out
The search team met Sunday at the apartment of
Marieliza Suarez, a junior from Lenexa and president of the Peruvian Association of Lawrence. "You're always going to be a
"You're always going to be a Jayhawk," she said.
Jayhawk," she said.
Suarez had only met Villagomez at the party Friday night. She's not surprised so many people feel close to Villagomez and have banded together to search.
"It has a lot to do with that kindness and empathy," Alig said.
Villagomez was last seen leaving a friend's birthday party around
SEE MISSING STUDENT PAGE 2
Thanksgiving, she got stuck in the rush-hour traffic on 23rd Street going out of town.
"It's really bad if you want to turn and you miss your turn signal and then you just sit there for eight different signals with straight traffic and other turning traffic," McClannahan said. Things may change, however, with a grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation. Lawrence received $129,250 that will allow city to expand the intelligent transportation system on the city's major roads.
The intelligent transportation system works by connecting the traffic signals with fiber-optic cables and additional computers, cameras and additional software to be able to view the real-time traffic at the city's traffic operations center.
With the grant, the city will update the traffic signal system along Clinton Parkway from 23rd and Iowa to Wakarusa, from Wakarusa Street to Sixth
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The technology of monitoring and managing real-time traffic could also take the stress off of police officers during heavy game-day traffic.
"Right now when we have football games or basketball games, we have to put officers on traffic control positions and override the traffic light system," said Sergeant Trent McKinley of the Lawrence Police Department. "If technology was in place to manage that, that would benefit us."
Ultimately, the new addition will help the flow of traffic going across the city, east to west.
"Once we get the South Law-
rence Trafficway, there's going to be a lot more traffic taking that, so we are trying to think ahead to get that up," said James Riser,
Visit Kansan.com for more information
Index
CLASSIFIEDS 8
CROSSWORD 5
SEE TRAFFIC PAGE 2
CRYPTOQUIPS 5
OPINION 4
SPORTS 10
SUDOKU 5
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2013 The University Daily Kansan
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Today's Weather
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