Carbondale police found the body of missing SIU student Pravin Varughese Tuesday.

Chief Jody O’Guinn confirmed Varughese’s body was found in a wooded area east of the 1400 block of East Main Street near Buffalo Wild Wings around 9:45 a.m. Police were searching the area after an acquaintance of Varughese’s voluntarily came forward with new information late Monday night.

The search did not end well for the family. Varughese’s sister, Priya, said her family is not satisfied with the investigation.

“We want to know what happened to him,” she said. “I’m thankful we found him, but I want to know why I asked about the forest the first day and they said it was too full.”

Priya Varughese and her family are staying at the Quality Inn only a few hundred yards from where Pravin was found.

“We just want to know what happened, and it’s so hard not knowing,” she said.

Sgt. David Kemp said he could not comment as to why the woods were not searched earlier. Lt. Mark Goddard did not immediately respond to phone calls.

O’Guinn said Varughese left a party in the 600 block of West College Street with a male from Harrisburg he met at the party. He said the acquaintance was giving Varughese a ride home.

However, Varughese was unable to give the acquaintance his address. According to O’Guinn, after an argument, Varughese left the vehicle and ran into the woods in only his T-shirt, blue jeans and shoes.

The low temperature and the heavily wooded area are believed to be contributing factors in Varughese’s death, O’Guinn said. The temperature fell to six degrees overnight.

“There were no obvious signs of trauma that would be caused by something other – by any kinds of suspicious means or any kind of altercation,” O’Guinn said.

O’Guinn said the police do not suspect foul play at this time. The investigation is ongoing, but is not considered a homicide, he said.

Deputy Chief of Operations Stan Reno said police requested an autopsy and toxicology report, but results would not be ready immediately.

O’Guinn said it took as long as it did to find Varughese because of a lack of information.

“There were just very few leads that would give us any direction on where to go or where to look,” he said. “It was just (Monday) night that this was recently developed and we followed up on it.”

The individual who came forward late Monday is still considered a person of interest in the investigation, O’Guinn said. The individual was not placed in custody or administered a polygraph, he said.

The family said they are not concerned with the acquaintance. “I just want to know what happened,” Priya Varughese said. “I don’t care about the other individual. I just want to know what happened to my brother.”

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

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