Body of missing Nigerian medical student, Ambrose Monye found in Lake Michigan

Photos: Body of missing Nigerian medical student, Ambrose Monye found in Lake Michigan

A body pulled out of Lake Michigan near Promontory Point Park on Sunday, May 8, has been identified as a medical student who had been missing for more than two weeks.

28-year-old Ambrose Monye was a fourth-year medical student at the University of Guadalajara in Mexico and was on a two-year rotation at Jackson Park Hospital and Medical Centre in Chicago. 

 

He was last seen on April 21, walking towards the University of Chicago's John Crerar Library, a medical research library at 5730 S. Ellis Av.

Family members say Monye’s disappearance was strange because he was preparing to graduate in a few weeks. His younger brother said all the lights were on at Monye's apartment, and the refrigerator was full of groceries when police went to check on him after he was reported missing.

"He’s just four weeks from his goal. His tickets to graduation are already bought for the ceremony. He ordered his cap and gown and everything," Joseph Monye,(pictured) Ambrose’s younger brother, told Dateline NBC before he was found. "I still have hope that my brother is out there, but it’s hard to be optimistic since it’s been so long."

“He frequents the coffee shops in the Hyde Park neighborhood,” Chicago Police Department spokeswoman Officer Laura Amezaga told NewsOne

On May 8, a body was discovered at 5400 S. Lake Shore Drive. It took a few days, but the body was identified as that of Monye, Chicago Police Department spokeswoman Officer Nicole Trainor told NewsOne.

"He has been identified and now it’s a death investigation,” Trainor said. “It’s an investigation to determine the cause of the death."

Trainor said it’s unclear if foul play was involved, or even when Monye’s body entered the lake. If any sort of foul play is discovered, the death investigation would become a homicide investigation.

Joseph Monye, also a medical student, said he last spoke to his brother just before his disappearance and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Monye was a quiet and soft-spoken athlete who was interested in pursuing a career in cardiology.

The brothers are from outside of Baltimore, and come from a family of doctors. Joseph said their lives revolved around studying and more studying.

"That's literally all we do, because we don't want to encounter any kind of problems, so we just keep to ourselves. We focus on our studies, and mind our business, and it's odd enough this happened," Joseph said. 

A cause of death has not yet been determined.