AUSTIN (CBSDFW.COM) — A Texas A&M student who went missing just over a week ago has been found dead in Austin, a spokesperson for his family announced on social media Saturday.
According to police, Tanner Hoang, 22, of Flower Mound, was found deceased near the Pennybacker Bridge on Loop 360. The cause of death has not been released, but police do not suspect foul play.
Tanner, 22, was last seen at around 11:00 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 16, 2022 in College Station, according to CBS affiliate KBTX.
Tanner's family said on social media that they were in town to watch him graduate. After he went missing, however, they learned he had fallen short of the requirements to graduate. Texas A&M confirmed he was not part of the ceremonies.
His father said that he had texted Tanner at 8:30 a.m. and that the message was marked as "read" before Tanner's phone turned off.
Tanner used his debit card to pay for gas at a station in Caldwell, but all signs of him vanished until last week when his car was found abandoned in Austin near the hiking trail leading to the Pennybacker Bridge Overlook at Highway 360 and the Colorado River.
The Hoang family said through a spokesperson that they were touched by the outpouring of support from the community and by how many people volunteered their time to help search for him.
"This is not the outcome that we have all been praying for, but on this Christmas Eve, Tanner is now in the arms of his Savior, King, Prince of Peace, Joy, and Healer," the spokesperson wrote on Facebook. "They feel God's love for them through the overwhelming outpouring of support. They know Tanner was loved by so many."
"Please continue to lift their family up in prayer."
reggitrix on December 25th, 2022 at 20:44 UTC »
Just to give some perspective for A&M students graduating, you find out 10 hours (edit:technically you should know a day ahead) before your graduating ceremony whether you graduate or not. This may be due to borderline grades for passing.
You invite all your friends and family to celebrate and find out you didn’t pass at the last second. It sucks.
**(edit) I should make a correction that you can still walk while not graduating. It’s a horrible feeling to attend while not graduating but it’s less embarrassing in front of your family/friends. Also, “last second,” is an exaggeration. You find out a day ahead but informing your friends or relatives to cancel their travel plans is definitely last second.**
The late timing on finding out if you are graduating would be due to two things. One, you are borderline about to pass/fail the class and it all depends on a final. Two, your professor is submitting the grades last minute. The submission deadline for grades is a day(ish) before your ceremony so you know (grade wise) whether you are passing or failing the class, but this doesn't mean a professor can't send them in earlier.
(edit2) Sometimes it may be a system error saying you haven’t graduated when you actually do meet the requirements. You can meet with an advisor to fix this (advisors are usually swamped, too few, and overworked). This error is very rare and probably could be resolved early.
Owain451 on December 25th, 2022 at 19:46 UTC »
Aw man, and around Christmas too. Someone else already said it but yeah, this is a majorly sad case.
GallowBarb on December 25th, 2022 at 18:36 UTC »
This is terribly sad.