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Missing Texas A&M Student Tanner Hoang’s Body Found In Austin On Christmas Eve
“Tanner was loved by so many,” a spokesperson for 22-year-old Tanner Hoang’s family said after his body was found.
A Texas A&M University student who disappeared from campus earlier this month was found dead in Austin on Christmas Eve.
The body of Tanner Hoang, 22, was discovered near Pennybacker Bridge on a stretch of North Capital of Texas Highway bordering the Colorado River in northwest Austin on Dec. 24, police announced on Tuesday. Foul play isn’t suspected.
It’s unclear if an autopsy has been completed. Authorities haven’t yet released the cause or manner of Hoang’s death.
His car was previously found abandoned nearby, in the proximity of a hiking trail near Pennybacker Bridge Overlook, according to CBS News. Authorities had previously begged the public for any tips related to the missing man’s whereabouts.
“This is not the outcome that we have all been praying for, but on this Christmas Eve, Tanner is now in the arms of his Savior, King, Prince of Peace, Joy, and Healer,” a spokesperson for Hoang’s family wrote on Facebook on Dec. 24. “They feel God’s love for them through the overwhelming outpouring of support. They know Tanner was loved by so many.”
Hoang was last seen on Dec. 16 at roughly 11 a.m. at the Trails at Wolf Pen apartment complex in College Station, Texas, according to an NBC News report.
Hoang’s disappearance had baffled his family, who had reportedly traveled to College Station, the home of Texas A&M, to attend his graduation the week he vanished. Relatives, however, said he failed to attend a pre-graduation meal with family. Following his disappearance, loved ones learned he’d failed to meet the requirements to graduate, according to KWTX-TV.
"I think I was thinking this is not characteristic of Tanner,” Hoang’s uncle, Quan Hoang, told Austin television station KTBC. “When we have family gatherings from Tanner, he's there. He's never been this way ... I was a little bit shocked about it.”
On the morning he vanished, Hoang’s father said he’d texted his son at around 8:30 a.m. and that the message had been marked “read” before the college student’s phone was switched off. Hoang also purchased gas at a Caldwell filling station using his debit card, but fell off the map shortly thereafter.
"His family had come into town for what was supposed to be a happy, a joyous occasion,” Chuck Fleeger, the executive director of the Amber Alert Network of the Brazos Valley, told Austin television station KTBC. “And certainly, circumstances have changed to now where it's kind of a family's worst nightmare, a missing loved one.”
The case remains open and active.
Oxygen.com has reached out to the Austin Police Department for further comment.
Hoang was from Flower Mound, Texas, which is northwest of Dallas. He was studying civil engineering at Texas A&M. A number of his relatives, including his father, had previously attended the school.
"Tanner had always loved Texas A&M, went to football games, so always wanted to go to Texas A&M and when you got there, made some great friends involved in intramurals, you know,” Quan Hoang added to KTBC. “So he loved the place. He loved the people.”
