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Morton Grove Officials Supporting Family Of SIU Student Who Died Under Suspicious Circumstances

(CBS) -- The family of an SIU student from Morton Grove - a 19-year-old who died in February under cloudy circumstances downstate - is now getting some support from Morton Grove officials.

The official cause of death of 19-year-old Pravin Varughese is hypothermia. His body was found in a wooded area near the SIU campus.

But his family believes Pravin might have been killed. They even paid for a second autopsy which concluded he died from blunt force trauma to the head.

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With Carbondale officials still sticking to their conclusions of hypothermia - at least for now - the Varughese family's hometown of Morton Grove is giving them some support.

Village Administrator Ryan Horne says the village is hosting a forum this weekend - to give the family a chance to once again speak out.

"If you listen to the mother speak and you hear the pain in her voice, she's very rational. She has a lot of facts that back up her side, which is, there are a lot of unanswered questions.

"And if you just sit down and go over the circumstances, there are some questions that haven't been answered and need to be answered."

Horne says Morton Grove is not trying to place blame on Carbondale, but he says there are questions that just need to be cleared up.

The forum/press conference is Saturday, October 18, at 2 p.m. at the Morton Grove Civic Center.

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