Calls for a special investigation into the death of SIU student Pravin Varughese are growing quickly.

Lovely Varughese, Pravin’s mother, started the Justice for Pravin campaign as a means of finding out what happened to her son the night of his death.

Pravin went missing from a house party the night of Feb. 12. His body was found five days later in a wooded area in the 1400 block of East Main Street.

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Since then, Lovely said she has received several different accounts of the event.

“We have been told inconsistent stories, and we just want to find the truth,” she said. “We just want a fair investigation and really know what happened to our son.”

Lovely said all of the inconsistencies caused her to form Justice for Pravin. The group is currently circulating a petition asking for a special investigation into the case.

Lovely said Jackson County Coroner Thomas Kupferer informed her the toxicology report on Pravin came back negative for any drugs. Police initially said her son was too intoxicated to give the driver of the vehicle, Gaege Bethune, of Harrisburg, his address.

The report did show an alcohol content of 0.049 milligrams in his urine, which Kupferer described as being from postmortem changes to the body, she said.

Illinois State Police also confirmed a trooper pulled over when he saw Bethune’s car on the side of the road. Video from the night shows the trooper look into the woods from the highway with his flashlight shortly before leaving the scene.

“Something like this happens, as parents you want to know the truth and you need to have closure,” she said. “You can’t wake up every morning thinking, ‘What happened to my son.’ It’s bothering me. I cannot sleep. I really want to know what happened and that’s all we’re looking for: just answers.”

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Lovely said once the petition reaches 20,000 signatures, the group plans to present it to several state representatives, senators and Gov. Pat Quinn. It currently has over 15,000 online signatures and Lovely said she has around 3,500 paper signatures.

The case is reminiscent of another death investigation by the Carbondale Police Department under heavy criticism.

Molly Young, a 21-year-old SIU student, was found dead March 24, 2012 from reports by her ex-boyfriend Richie Minton’s roommate, Wesley Romack, of a drug overdose before reporting it as a self-inflicted gunshot wound. However her family does not believe this is the real story.

The gun Young allegedly used belonged to Minton, a former dispatcher with the Carbondale Police Department. When police arrived on the scene, Minton was allowed to clean himself before going to the police station, potentially damaging forensic evidence. The case was handed over to Illinois State Police.

Larry Young, Molly’s father, and Molly’s grandmother Colleen Milligan formed Justice for Molly in April of 2012 as an advocacy group to try and shed more light on the case.

Justice for Molly held a petition drive Monday to get the case sent to a grand jury. Milligan said the petition will be sent to Parkinson. Larry said the petition on change.org currently has over 1,800 signatures.

Larry said getting police to investigate further or tell the truth is like running a marathon. He said he believes the crime was staged.

“It’s been two years and we’re still waiting for justice,” Milligan said. “It hurts really bad. It’s like it doesn’t matter.”

The State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor’s Office in Springfield assigned Ed Parkinson as special prosecutor of the case in September of 2013. However Larry and Milligan said they think Parkinson has been unresponsive towards the family.

Milligan said the Molly Young case is similar to the Pravin Varughese case because like Molly, Varughese is not receiving the justice he deserves.

Larry said he contacted the Varugheses and advised them to get an independent autopsy and toxicology report.

Lovely was critical of the official investigation, but added she does not want to seem vindictive.

“I have the utmost respect for the legal system. I came from India. We hold police in the utmost respect. My son wanted to be a police officer. He dreamed of being in the FBI and solving cases like his own.”

She said she only wants the truth.

“This shouldn’t have to happen to another family,” she said. “We are going through a whole lot and they shouldn’t be getting into assumptions before finding out the truth.”

Carbondale Police Chief Jody O’Guinn did not respond to phone calls for comment.

For more information on the Pravin Varughese petition, visit justiceforpravin.org. For more information on the Molly Young petition, search for “Molly Young” on change.org.

Both Seth Richardson and Luke Nozicka contributed to this story.

Seth Richardson can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter at @EgyptianRich or at 536-3311 ext. 268.

Luke Nozicka can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter at @LukeNozicka or at536-3311 ext. 268