Lauren Blackburn ’26 Reported Missing

Lauren Blackburn ’26, a student from Indiana, has been reported missing, according to a TigerAlert sent by Public Safety to the University community.

Princeton’s Department of Public Safety is asking anyone with information about his whereabouts to call 609-258-1000.

He was last seen at about 6 p.m. Saturday, April 19, near Firestone Library wearing blue jeans with torn knees, a yellow T-shirt with a black, zippered hooded sweatshirt, and blue, flat bottom shoes, according to the email that went out at about 11 a.m. Tuesday. He is 6 feet, 2 inches tall and weighs 170 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair.

Blackburn, who is 23 years old, went to high school in Indiana, where he was named a National Merit Scholar. He graduated from high school in 2019. At Princeton, he has written for the features section of The Daily Princetonian and is a member of New College West. He’s on a list of students who were awarded fellowships to support summer study, travel, and independent research through the Lewis Center for the Arts. 

On Washington Road at about 11:45 a.m. Tuesday, an emergency vehicle towed two red inflatable motorboats toward Lake Carnegie. A Trenton fire truck and other emergency vehicles gathered at the lakefront near the Harrison Street bridge. Two drones were flying over the lake at noon.

WPVI, the ABC news affiliate in Philadelphia, reported that the search began about midnight when “a missing person’s phone was pinging in the area.” The report said police were using sonar units and drones from Hamilton Township as well as K-9 units, and that Princeton’s public safety department is handling the search.

In another campus email in the early afternoon, Rochelle Calhoun, vice president for student life, reiterated the call for information and said resources and support are available at Counseling and Psychological Services, the Office of Religious Life, the residential colleges, and the Graduate School. “I understand that this is difficult news,” she wrote.

A fire truck parked in the grass at Lake Carnegie just after noon on Tuesday, near faculty housing by the Harrison Street bridge.

Peter Barzilai s’97