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Body Found In Lake Is Missing U Of C Student

Updated 06/19/13 - 1:33 p.m.

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Authorities have confirmed the body found in Lake Michigan early Wednesday belonged to a University of Chicago student who has been missing for a week.

CBS 2's Kris Habermehl reports, around 6:50 a.m., Chicago Police Marine Unit divers pulled a body from Lake Michigan near Oakwood Boulevard. A fisherman spotted the body in the lake and called police around 6:30 a.m.

After the body was recovered, it was taken to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office, where authorities confirmed the victim was 20-year-old Austin Hudson-Lapore, who went missing on June 12.

It's not clear if he fell in the water by accident, or if something else occurred. Autopsy results were not immediately available Wednesday afternoon.

CBS 2's Susanna Song reports Hudson-Lapore's father, Gregg Lapore, was already at the lakefront Wednesday morning, searching for his son, when he saw police officers, a helicopter and a boat congregating along the lake wall near Oakwood Boulevard.

He planned to hold a news conference later on Wednesday.

Community activist Andrew Holmes was with Gregg Lapore when the body was found.

"His first reaction was 'Oh, God!' and he's just kind of shaken right now. As any individual, he's human. I had to give him my shoulder to lean on. I had to comfort him, as we comfort each other," Holmes said. "Yes, he's crying, he's in shock. That's his son. He's been out here, determined to find his son. That's his child. That's his baby."

Hudson-Lapore – a third year biochemistry student at the University of Chicago – was last seen at his Hyde Park apartment a week ago, and his friends and family believe he went to the lakefront while heavy storms were moving through Chicago last Wednesday.

His friends and family said they believe he came to the lake to check out the storms after taking his final exams one week ago.

On Tuesday, a search dog tracked Hudson-Lapore's scent to the lakefront near Promontory Point, which is about two miles south of where the body was found.

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