Missing Cal student found dead near USC


The UC Berkeley student who went missing Friday night after a USC party has been confirmed dead, officials said on Monday.

Photo courtesy of UC Berkeley Athletic Department

Photo courtesy of UC Berkeley Athletic Department

Nineteen-year-old Eloi Vasquez’s body was found early Saturday morning on the 10 Freeway near Vermont Avenue and Washington Boulevard, according to the USC Dept. of Public Safety as well as local news sources.

California Highway Patrol Officer Ramberto Salcido said that Vasquez was running across the eastbound 10 Freeway when he was hit by an oncoming vehicle going 60 miles an hour.

“[The driver] observed the pedestrian and attempted to stop, but struck the pedestrian,” Salcido said.

Vasquez was pronounced dead at the scene due to his injuries. He had no identification on him at the time.  He might have accessed the freeway by walking up a nearby on ramp.

Vasquez, a member of the UC Berkeley men’s soccer team, was visiting USC’s campus along with his friends and teammates Josh Morton and Marko Helfrich for spring break when he went missing Friday night.

He had left a party at the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity house early Saturday morning on West 28th Street, and told friends he wanted to go to the beach. He was not heard from since then.

Vasquez’s family reported he was missing on Saturday, and drove down from the Bay area to facilitate in the search. The family was offering a $100,000 reward for any information leading to his location.

3 replies
  1. TheaterGeek
    TheaterGeek says:

    I-10 is about twelve lanes of traffic going at least 60 — no sane person, no matter how drunk, tries to run across that, particularly at 2:30 AM while impaired. Given the panicky nature of his calls to his girlfriend in Berkeley just before his death, and the fact that he told people at the TKE house he was “going to the beach” — hours away on foot — there is a clear pattern of profoundly altered judgment consistent with some type of drug other than — or in addition to — alcohol. As a serious athlete he was unlikely to be a druggie. Pending results of a toxicology test, I’d say a serious and intensive investigation is warranted. Anyone who attended the TKE party should immediately compile a list of guests known to have attended the party so that as many can be interviewed as possible, as soon as possible.

  2. Joe
    Joe says:

    How awful. I can’t even imagine what Eloi’s family must be feeling right now.

    I agree there should be an investigation into what substances were given to Eloi and in what manner. Wandering onto a freeway, much less attempting to run across it, is not easy to do mistakenly and suggests more than alcohol was involved. While I admit I don’t know the legalities surrounding this, I would think that TKE / whoever was responsible for distributing these yet to be determined substances could be criminally liable.

  3. SpikeNLB
    SpikeNLB says:

    Running across the 10 freeway at 2:30 AM. Any chance anyone plan on looking into what was being served at that TKE frat party? And was was a 19 year old being served it.

Comments are closed.