19-Year-Old Ohio State Student Found Dead Inside Football Stadium
Discovery of William Meyers’ body at the Horseshoe shocks campus, no foul play suspected
Columbus, September 28 EST: By mid-morning Friday, word had already spread through the Oval: a student was gone. The call came into fire dispatch just before 10 a.m., and within minutes first responders were at Ohio Stadium, where they found the body of 19-year-old William Meyers.
The Discovery
The stadium, usually locked up tight outside of games and tours, was nearly empty. A custodian reportedly noticed something unusual and alerted authorities. When medics arrived, Meyers an accounting major from Fairfield, Connecticut was already dead.
Officials stressed there’s no foul play suspected, no danger to others. That calmed one set of fears, but left another wide open: how does a student end up dead inside the Horseshoe on an ordinary Thursday?
The Franklin County coroner will answer that, though not right away. Toxicology, autopsy those things take time. Until then, speculation fills the gaps.
A Student Known For Giving Back
Meyers wasn’t a headline-chaser. He was 19, studying accounting, building a path like everyone else. But friends point out he also found time to co-run a charity with his brother, collecting and donating sports gear to kids who couldn’t afford it.
“He cared, even when nobody was looking,” one fellow student told local reporters. Ohio State called him “beloved,” the kind of word universities lean on in moments like this. But behind the statement is a family now reeling, and classmates who just saw him in lectures days ago.
The Stadium’s Dark Echo
It’s impossible not to think back to last spring. May 2024, commencement day thousands in the stands, caps ready to fly when a woman died by suicide after falling from the upper deck. That moment is still carved into the school’s memory.
So when news broke of another death inside the same walls, shock gave way to unease. Safety at the Horseshoe has been under scrutiny before, and now those conversations start up again. Access, mental health, security all of it back on the table.
Grief Moving Quietly Across Campus
By Friday afternoon, the weight of it had settled in. Dining halls were a little quieter. Conversations trailed off. Students who didn’t know Meyers by name still felt it: the proximity, the age, the reminder that tragedy doesn’t check IDs.
It’s an odd collision life on campus rushing ahead (midterms, football, club fairs) while a family in Connecticut plans a funeral. Ohio State pushed out reminders about counseling hotlines, urging students to talk if they’re struggling.
Still, there’s no neat way to fold this into the rhythm of college life. The stadium will roar again this weekend, the band will dot the “i,” and people will cheer. But for some, there’ll be a shadow at the edge of the celebration.
What Happens Next
Investigators will keep working, but the official answers won’t come quickly. Until then, the university is in a holding pattern managing grief, protecting privacy, trying not to let speculation overtake fact.
For Meyers’ friends, the pause feels heavier. Their semester goes on, but one of their own won’t be there to finish it. And the place meant to embody joy the Horseshoe now carries another story that will be hard to forget.
New Jersey Times Is Your Source: The Latest In Politics, Entertainment, Business, Breaking News, And Other News. Please Follow Us On Facebook, Instagram, And Twitter To Receive Instantaneous Updates. Also Do Checkout Our Telegram Channel @Njtdotcom For Latest Updates.
Trained in war zones, raised in Newark, and seasoned in city hall, Jordan blends grit reporting with deep integrity. From floods to finance bills, they’re always first on scene and last to leave.
