Missing UTC student found dead

Ali Ali
Ali Ali
photo Ali Ali

For nearly three weeks Hassan Elnour prayed for his missing brother's safe return.

He and students from UTC -- where his younger brother, 24-year-old Ali Ali, attended -- posted fliers and contacted the Chattanooga Police Department and UTC for help.

"I feel like I did everything I can do," Elnour said last Monday. "I'm just waiting and hoping. I'm just trying to hold on and pray that he will come home."

The waiting is now over. But the grieving process has begun.

photo Maclellan Island is seen in this file photo.

The body found on Maclellan Island at 2:27 a.m. Sunday was identified as Ali yesterday evening. The Sudanese student had been missing since Jan. 5.

Elnour was so shaken Sunday night when he learned his brother was dead that he couldn't talk.

Ali was found deceased on the shore of the island in the middle of the Tennessee River. There are no signs of any crime committed and the cause of death is unknown, according to police, however the investigation is ongoing.

On Jan. 7 -- two days after Ali's disappearance -- Elnour learned from an Apple employee that Ali's iPad had been located and that he was online at the moment. When Elnour tried to get the location, the employee wouldn't give it without an application filed with police.

After hours of haggling between the police and Apple that night, the application was denied.

Ali came to the U.S. pursuing a master's degree in electrical engineering at UTC. Ali had only been at the school since August. But in that time he had made friends, one of whom was his roommate, Walied Hassan, also an engineering student from Sudan.

Hassan said Ali was acting normally right up to the morning he disappeared. The day before Ali's disappearance, he paid his rent in full -- the last activity on his bank account, and on that Monday he applied for an assistantship.

People at the Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science Building on UTC's campus were the last to see him alive.

Chuck Cantrell, UTC's associate vice chancellor for communication and marketing, said he's been at UTC for nearly 30 years and doesn't recall a student, international or from the U.S., coming up missing and then dead.

"It's a very sad time for our campus," Cantrell said. "The faculty, staff and students were all concerned for Ali and were holding out hope that he may be found."

Contact staff writer Yolanda Putman atyputman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6431.

Upcoming Events