{
  "id": "2025-04-22-princeton-university-missing-undergraduate",
  "slug": "princeton-university-missing-undergraduate-2025-04-22",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Princeton University",
    "shortName": "Princeton",
    "state": "NJ",
    "type": "private-r1",
    "alertSystemName": "TigerAlert",
    "enrollment": 8500
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2025-04-22",
    "endDate": "2025-04-25",
    "type": "missing-person",
    "cleryCategory": "missing-student",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat",
    "headline": "Missing undergraduate sought after last seen near main library; remains found days later",
    "headlinePublic": "Missing undergraduate sought after last seen near main library; remains found days later",
    "summary": "On April 22, 2025, Princeton [Public Safety issued a TigerAlert](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d_zdJceUFZyHtPzSOH6Hd8ku8CS4UtTg/view?usp=sharing) seeking information on a missing undergraduate last seen near Firestone Library on April 19. [The Daily Princetonian](https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2025/04/princeton-news-stlife-lauren-blackburn-missing-undergraduate) reported the 11:03 a.m. TigerAlert and subsequent search updates; [official University X posts](https://x.com/Princeton/status/1914700136338391551) mirrored the missing-person notice. Remains were later found at Lake Carnegie.",
    "outcome": "Search led by Public Safety with regional law enforcement assistance. The student's body was found at Lake Carnegie on the morning of April 25, 2025; the University issued condolence messaging to the community.",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 1,
      "injured": 0
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestamp": "2025-04-22T11:03:00-04:00",
      "channel": "email",
      "verbatimText": "TIGERALERT: Missing Undergraduate Student\n\nTue, Apr 22, 2025 at 11:03 AM\n\nTIGERALERT:\n\nThe Department of Public Safety is seeking information on the whereabouts of undergraduate student Lauren Blackburn ’26, who has been reported missing.\nBlackburn, 23, was last seen at about 6 p.m. Saturday, April 19, in the vicinity of Firestone Library wearing blue jeans with torn knees, a yellow t-shirt with a black, zippered hooded sweatshirt, and blue, flat bottom shoes.\nHe is 6 feet, 2 inches tall and weighs 170 pounds. He has brown eyes and black hair.\nThere may be increased law enforcement activity on campus related to this situation.  Anyone with information on Blackburn’s whereabouts should contact the Department of Public Safety at (609) 258-1000.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d_zdJceUFZyHtPzSOH6Hd8ku8CS4UtTg/view?usp=sharing",
      "sourceDescription": "Public PDF of TigerAlert email (tigeralert@princeton.edu) linked from Daily Princetonian coverage",
      "annotations": [
        "Complete TigerAlert email body recovered from a public Google Drive PDF of the Gmail print view linked by The Daily Princetonian.",
        "Subject line in the PDF: TIGERALERT: Missing Undergraduate Student; sent Tue, Apr 22, 2025 at 11:03 AM from tigeralert@princeton.edu.",
        "Official @Princeton X posts the same day carried a condensed version of the missing-person notice and contact line."
      ],
      "characterCount": 752
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "update",
      "timestamp": "2025-04-22T11:17:41-04:00",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "There may be increased law enforcement activity on campus related to this situation.\n\nAnyone with information on Blackburn’s whereabouts should contact the Department of Public Safety at (609) 258-1000.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/Princeton/status/1914700140172005848",
      "sourceDescription": "@Princeton official X thread continuation of missing-student notice",
      "annotations": [
        "Complete short-form follow-on post in the official University missing-student thread.",
        "Reinforces law-enforcement presence and the DPS tip line already present in the TigerAlert email."
      ],
      "characterCount": 202
    }
  ],
  "context": "Princeton used its branded TigerAlert email channel on April 22, 2025, to notify the community that an undergraduate had been reported missing after last being seen near Firestone Library on April 19. The [complete email text](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d_zdJceUFZyHtPzSOH6Hd8ku8CS4UtTg/view?usp=sharing) is preserved in a public PDF of the Gmail message and was contemporaneously reported by [The Daily Princetonian](https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2025/04/princeton-news-stlife-lauren-blackburn-missing-undergraduate). The University's official [@Princeton X account](https://x.com/Princeton/status/1914700136338391551) posted condensed search notices the same day and in following days. Regional media covered a water search at Lake Carnegie; on April 25 the University announced that the student's body had been found there. Dignity conventions apply: public headlines use roles rather than names; the transmitted text preserves names as sent.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "TigerAlert email from tigeralert@princeton.edu carried a full missing-student notice with description, last-seen location/time, and DPS tip line",
    "Official University X posts mirrored search-status language while the multi-day search continued with regional law enforcement",
    "Resolution messaging on April 25 announced remains found at Lake Carnegie and directed the community to a dean's full message"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "TigerAlert email PDF — Missing Undergraduate Student (public Drive copy linked by The Daily Princetonian)",
      "url": "https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d_zdJceUFZyHtPzSOH6Hd8ku8CS4UtTg/view?usp=sharing",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "Princeton undergraduate Lauren Blackburn '26 missing since Saturday — The Daily Princetonian",
      "url": "https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2025/04/princeton-news-stlife-lauren-blackburn-missing-undergraduate",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    },
    {
      "title": "Search for Lauren Blackburn '26 still ongoing — The Daily Princetonian",
      "url": "https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2025/04/princeton-news-stlife-missing-undergraduate-student-lauren-blackburn-26-search-ongoing",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    },
    {
      "title": "@Princeton X — missing undergraduate notice",
      "url": "https://x.com/Princeton/status/1914700136338391551",
      "type": "official-social"
    },
    {
      "title": "@Princeton X — increased law enforcement activity notice",
      "url": "https://x.com/Princeton/status/1914700140172005848",
      "type": "official-social"
    },
    {
      "title": "Town Topics — Search for Missing PU Student Focuses on Lake Carnegie",
      "url": "https://www.towntopics.com/2025/04/23/search-for-missing-pu-student-focuses-on-lake-carnegie/",
      "type": "local-media"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "high",
  "tags": [
    "missing-student",
    "tigeralert",
    "princeton",
    "public-safety"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-07-21",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-21",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}