Missing Dartmouth student Kexin Cai found dead in Connecticut River

Missing Dartmouth College student Kexin Cai was found dead in the Connecticut River after a days-long search.

Cai, 26, of West Lebanon, N.H., vanished last Wednesday, according to the Lebanon Police Department.

She was was officially reported missing last Friday. A bike believed to have belonged to Cai was spotted near a conservation area in Lebanon, leading searchers to focus on that area.

A fisherman found a body along the Connecticut River in Windsor, Vt., at about 4 p.m. on Monday, according to police. The body was brought to shore and identified as Cai, WMUR reported.

Her death remains under investigation, though foul play is not suspected.

Cai was a doctoral student in the Mutual Understanding Lab of the Psychological and Brain Sciences Department, according to the school’s website.

She was described as as “an exceptionally gifted and humble researcher” who “loved cats so much that she would sneak images of them into every poster or presentation,” according to an email sent to the school community by Dean of the Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies Jon Kull.

Kristian Droste, Cai’s partner, told The Dartmouth she had admitted herself to the school’s health service facility for a “mental health crisis” last week and was transferred to the university’s hospital. She was released the day she was last seen.