FARGO – The mother of a North Dakota State College of Science student who disappeared just before he was to graduate last spring says she believes her son was murdered.
“His backpack was weighted down, and he was thrown in the river,” Tammy Sadek said Tuesday, regarding her son, Andrew Sadek.
His body was found in the Red River near Breckenridge, Minn., in late June. Autopsy results showed he died from a gunshot wound to the head, but whether his death was a homicide or a suicide remains undetermined.
Tammy Sadek, who made her comments during an interview on KFGO radio, said her son had no reason to commit suicide and that he was found with a rock-filled backpack strapped to him.
Barbara Spaeth-Baum, a spokeswoman for the NDSCS campus police, could not confirm that Sadek’s body was found with a backpack that contained rocks. She said investigators are still looking into whether the death was a homicide or a suicide, and that a search continues for the gun that was used.
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Tammy Sadek said her son was shot with a .22-caliber bullet and that her family is missing a .22-caliber gun. Though, she says that does not prove he committed suicide and that the gun could have been used against him.
Andrew Sadek had last been seen walking away from his residence hall around 2 a.m. May 1. The news that he was missing launched intensive air, ground and water searches for the missing 20-year-old, including instructions from law enforcement for residents in the area to check their land and outbuildings for signs of Sadek.
Friends and family helping with the searches and praying for him to come home were surprised in mid-May when police announced that Sadek had been charged in Richland County District Court with felony drug dealing charges after allegedly selling marijuana on campus.
