Missing student found dead in lake The search for a Japanese student missing since a rainy January morning ended Monday when he was found dead, floating in the white-capped waves of Lake Mendota by a wind surfer.
Dane County Coroner John Stanley confirmed late Monday that the body was that of Kenji Ohmi, 20, last seen alive on video tape leaving his apartment building at 202 N. Hamilton St. at 6:30 a.m. on Jan. 28.
Preliminary indications are that he drowned, Stanley said.
Ohmi, of Kyoto, Japan, had been a student for about a month at the Wisconsin English as a Second Language Institute before he disappeared.
His parents, who live in Japan, had been notified, Stanley said.
Mike Cockrem, 46, of Madison, said he spotted the young man's body as he passed it on his wind surfboard just before 1:45 p.m. It was about one- quarter mile off the shore near homes on the 1200 block of Sherman Avenue.
The body was floating face down, wearing a dark shirt, shorts, tan socks and what may have been sneakers, Cockrem said.
Cockrem ran to the lifeguard's hut to use the phone and call 911.
Dane County Sheriff's Office boats and divers as well as Madison police and fire arrived just before 2 p.m. Cockrem pointed out Ohmi's body and they pulled it to shore.
After Ohmi disappeared, fellow students and teachers as well as strangers helped search for the young student.
Posters asking for tips are still posted in area coffee shops, stores and community centers.
When he disappeared, his two roommates and teachers told police they had no clue as to where he may have gone and school officials said he had left behind his wallet and umbrella.
His parents, Hiromi and Seitoku Ohmi, came to Madison to search for their son, declining media requests for interviews, but thanking those who helped in the search.
On Monday, officials from the WESLI school did not return phone calls asking for comment.
It's not known how long he'd been in the water, Stanley said, but high winds and warmer water could be responsible for bringing the body to the surface if he went into the water during winter.
Drowned bodies tend to sink until gases from decomposition cause them to float to the surface. The time varies from person to person and can occur more readily when water temperatures warm up, Dr. Robert Huntington III, a physician who performs autopsies for the Dane County Coroner's Office, has said.
According to Bob Gerber, director of the UW-Madison Lifesaving Station on Lake Mendota, the water temperature at the center of the lake was 70 degrees Monday.
In addition, strong winds since Saturday may have stirred water enough to send Ohmi's body to the surface.
The Sheriff's Office is still hoping to find the body of Christopher Dickinson, 25, who has been missing and presumed drowned since July 31, when the boat used by Dickinson, of Ridgeway, and friend Darren Mellor, of Brooklyn, also 25, was found abandoned near Warner Beach.
Mellor's body was found in October near Spring Harbor Beach. An autopsy revealed he had drowned.
http://www.madison.com/wsj/mad/top/index.php?ntid=88226This was one of the missing persons that was on the site before it went down - Unfortunate (but somewhat expected end-this was speculation early, but curious that he did not surface sooner)
Kenji's parents met with Andrew Lathrop's parents -
Andrew is from Wisconsin and went missing last summer while helping to teach English to Japanese students. He has not been found.
